Hey BridgeDetroit readers!
This month’s edition of Detroit Thrive is all about housing — an issue top of mind for voters across the country and in Detroit.
Since Detroiter Jamia Timmons was 16 years old, she knew she wanted to be a homeowner.
Like most renters, it was tough to save for a down payment. She struggled to put money aside as she juggled the high cost of living, debt, emergency expenses and car insurance.
But recently Timmons closed on a colonial on Detroit’s west side, thanks to the city’s down payment assistance program. The program provides up to $25,000 in cash to qualified first-time homebuyers, and is among the efforts to boost homeownership in a city where, for years, most residents rented. The balance has since shifted.
Still, Detroit-based housing experts say residents struggle to purchase homes in the city because of low credit scores, a lack of savings and the high cost and low availability of quality homes.
That’s where programs like down payment assistance can lend a hand to Detroiters who want to become homeowners. The program’s first round has helped 434 residents purchase homes, and round two is taking applications.
We dive into this program (which inspired a similar policy proposal from Vice President Kamala Harris) and learn about the hurdles to homeownership Detroiters face.
On Your Radar
- RENT SUBSIDY FREEZE: Some 85,000 people remain on the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) waitlist for a coveted federal housing choice voucher, formerly known as Section 8, that can ease rent costs to just 30% of a person’s income. Why? The federal money coming into the program from Congress isn’t keeping up with rising rents in Michigan, and a shortage of affordable housing continues to force those rents. Unhoused residents account for roughly 6% of applicants on MSHDA’s voucher waitlist. The housing authority has 23,300 applicants on its waitlist from Detroit alone — 763 of whom are homeless. Learn more.
- FORECLOSURE HELP: The deadline to apply for a program that can help Detroiters avoid property tax foreclosure is Friday, Nov. 1, at 4:30 p.m. In previous years, Detroiters had until December to sign up for the City of Detroit’s Homeowners Property Exemption (HOPE) program to see a partial or full reduction in their current year property taxes. The deadline was moved up about a month to give the board responsible for hearing property tax appeals in Detroit more time to review applications and give applicants a chance to submit completed forms. Learn more.
Thank you for reading! As always, you can reach me at nrahman@freepress.com.
Nushrat Rahman, Economic Mobility Reporter, BridgeDetroit and Detroit Free Press
