Making Housing a Top Priority

Guest Opinion

By Sam Inglot | July 27, 2024

Raise your hand if you know someone who is having trouble affording a place to live. Now keep your hand raised if you’ve had this experience yourself. About half of all renters in Michigan pay at least 30 percent of their income towards housing–an unfair reality that’s all too common.

Most Michiganders don’t need to be reminded about the struggles across the state that folks have when finding a place to live. It should go without saying, but housing is a basic human need. Nobody deserves to be unhoused due to unaffordability.

Michigan has too short of a supply of good, quality, affordable housing, and it’s a major factor when people are trying to plant roots here. To make matters worse, high utility bills make the cost of living even more unaffordable.

According to polling from the Lake Effect, a monthly research newsletter from Progress Michigan that follows public opinion in our state, 79 percent of Michigan residents think that the state legislature should make lowering the cost of housing a priority. Luckily, Democrats in Michigan can brag about the work they’ve been doing to address this issue.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made housing a priority, and her administration is working to improve the situation on multiple fronts. Under the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), her goal is to make up for the deficit in housing supply by directing funds towards new housing developments. MSHDA just approved $16.9 million in funding for affordable housing in Traverse City, creating 52 affordable units.

Additionally, the recently-approved state budget includes $100 million for affordable housing, with $5 million going specifically towards teacher housing in Traverse City.

The work to account for the nearly 190,000 unit deficit in statewide housing will take time, but Democrats are taking a long-term approach by addressing other affordability issues. At the Mackinac Policy Conference in May, Gov. Whitmer announced exciting new housing and energy initiatives, leveraging federal funding.

The MI Solar for All program will support solar development in low-income and disadvantaged communities through “direct financial assistance for rooftop solar, community solar, and energy storage.” Meanwhile, the Home Efficiency Rebates program seeks to lower the cost of home energy efficiency upgrades. These programs not only help in reducing emissions but also alleviate some of the costs that come with owning a home.

At the federal level, there are promises on housing that President Biden’s administration is delivering on. Through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), many communities across northern Michigan are reaping the benefits from this historic investment in infrastructure and social spending. Some of the programs included are going towards housing initiatives, with $864,993 for tribal housing in Leelanau County and $413,623 in Emmet County. Roscommon County is also getting $270,000 from ARP to help prevent low-income folks from losing their homes through mortgage and utility payment assistance.

Recently, Biden directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to lower mortgage insurance premiums that will save an estimated 850,000 homeowners and homebuyers $800 a year. His administration has announced multiple other executive actions to address housing insecurity.

After the Trump administration suspended a program to provide capital to state and local housing finance agencies offering reduced interest loans, the Biden administration restarted the program and announced that more than 12,000 housing units have been developed with nearly $2 billion in Federal Housing Administration loans.

Low-income communities are also included in these groundbreaking policies. Back in May, the Biden administration announced $5.5 billion in grants to advance affordable housing for low-income folks across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. In total, Michigan received almost $178 million to build more affordable housing, match people with homes, and reduce homelessness.

The cost of housing in Michigan has skyrocketed, leaving even renting—much less home ownership—out of reach for many. Michiganders back progressive policy solutions to the housing crisis, and it’s far past time our lawmakers get them done. In both small towns and big cities, there’s a transformative shift in housing policy that can create meaningful change.

These reforms will take time, and there’s more we can be doing to ensure that all levels of government are coordinating their efforts, but it’s clear that these ongoing efforts will make a long-term impact for the economic security of Michigan.

Sam Inglot is the executive director of Progress Michigan, a nonprofit communications advocacy and government watchdog group.