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Housing

The Housing Revolution We Need

October 18, 2018 By Thomas J. Sugrue, Dissentmagazine.org ,
Are we on the brink of a revolution in housing policy? In the three-quarters of a century since Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised Americans “the right to a decent home,” the housing market has remained both a cause of America’s racial and economic inequality and a woefully inadequate solution to it. Today, a decade after the financial crash of 2008, even in a period of rapid economic growth, the home-finance and rental markets are failing millions of Americans. But, as in the Depression, a new generation of politicians are putting housing inequality at the center of the national agenda. Congressional candidates ranging from Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar to Hawaii’s Kaniela Ing have called for “Housing for All,” including rent-stabilization programs and a new infusion of federal subsidies for the construction of affordable housing.

City Forced To Abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture And Pay Back Victims The Millions It Stole From Them

October 4, 2018 By Rachel Blevins, Activistpost.com , , ,
Philadelphia, PA – The city that has gained a reputation for the egregious civil asset forfeiture practices committed by its police department, will now be forced to dismantle the program altogether, as a result of a lawsuit filed by a family who had their home seized by police after their son was accused of a minor drug crime. Residents who have been harmed by the Philadelphia Police department’s civil asset forfeiture practices could also receive part of $3 million in compensation. Markela and Chris Sourovelis initially filed a lawsuit in 2014 after their son was caught trying to sell $40 in heroin on the street. The parents complied with the judge and took their son to a court-ordered rehabilitation treatment. But when they returned home, they found that police had locked them out of their house.

How Unions Can Solve The Housing Crisis

September 27, 2018 Erik Forman, Inthesetimes.com , , ,
DR. JAMES PETER WARBASSE OPINED in the journal Co-operation, “Once the people of New York City lived in their own houses, but those days have gone. ... The houses are owned by landlords who conduct them, not for the purpose of domiciling the people in health and comfort, but for the single purpose of making money out of tenants.” That was in 1919. A century later, things have gone from bad to worse. A quarter of U.S. households pay more than half their income in rent. In New York City, homelessness has hit record levels. Most activists can reel off a list of demands to address the housing crisis: rent control, community land trusts, affordable housing development. But one of the most effective strategies has been forgotten. A century ago, the labor movement in New York City planned and executed a bluntly practical solution to the problem of housing: Build it.

Court Affirms Right Of Homeless Persons To Not Be Punished For Sleeping In Public

September 8, 2018 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. , ,
Boise, Idaho – The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside in the absence of adequate alternatives in Martin v. Boise (formerly Bell v. Boise), a lawsuit challenging Boise, Idaho’s ban on sleeping in public. In so holding, the court of appeals permitted various homeless individuals who have received criminal citations under Boise’s policy to proceed with their constitutional claims against the City. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, which filed the case in 2009...

Community Control Of Land And Housing

September 4, 2018 Staff, Democracycollaborative.org , ,
A historical legacy of displacement and exclusion, firmly rooted in racism and discriminatory public policy, has fundamentally restricted access to land and housing and shaped ownership dynamics, particularly for people of color and low-income communities. Today, many communities across the country are facing new threats of instability, unaffordability, disempowerment, and displacement due to various economic, demographic, and cultural changes that are putting increased pressure on land and housing resources. As communities and policymakers alike consider ways to confront these threats—especially within the context of the urgent need for community and economic development—there is an emerging opportunity to develop strategies related to land and housing that can help create inclusive, participatory, and sustainable economies built on locally-rooted, broad-based ownership of place-based assets.

The Homelessness Problem We Don’t Talk About

August 24, 2018 Tanvi Misra, Citylab.com , , ,
The punishment for a crime doesn’t necessarily end when the person has been released from prison. Formerly incarcerated people face multiple barriers to securing housing (including public housing) and employment, which can lead to homelessness. And just by virtue of being homeless—by having to sleep on a bench or take shelter under a bridge—these people may then be targeted by the police. Thus starts an unrelenting cycle, through which people are tossed back and forth between jail and the street. A new report by the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) presents some troubling numbers on this phenomenon. Using a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey, for which the last available year of data comes from 2008, it found that among formerly incarcerated people, the rate of homelessness that year was 10 times that of the general public.

Tenants Together: Stories, Struggles, And Strategies

August 22, 2018 Staff, TenantsTogether.org , ,
Concord: Local allies conducted a survey and report (that Tenants Together helped edit) that 75 percent of tenants in Concord fear eviction, while over half experience unsafe living conditions, but fear retaliation from their landlords for reporting them. Los Angeles: According to a new report, the Los Angeles area loses 5.5 rent control units every day due to Ellis Act evictions. San Francisco: Our friends and member orgs in the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition has released a new report, "The Cost of Costa-Hawkins". The report puts a spotlight on common landlord lies and exploitation of loopholes, as a resource for statewide action to support Yes on Prop 10, a full repeal of Costa-Hawkins. To join the fight for Proposition 10, the Affordable Housing Act, sign up here! To learn more about what Costa-Hawkins is, check out this primer on our website and educate your friends and neighbors to vote #YesOn10 this November.

Community Control Of Land And Housing

August 21, 2018 Staff, Democracycollaborative.org , ,
A historical legacy of displacement and exclusion, firmly rooted in racism and discriminatory public policy, has fundamentally restricted access to land and housing and shaped ownership dynamics, particularly for people of color and low-income communities. Today, many communities across the country are facing new threats of instability, unaffordability, disempowerment, and displacement due to various economic, demographic, and cultural changes that are putting increased pressure on land and housing resources. As communities and policymakers alike consider ways to confront these threats—especially within the context of the urgent need for community and economic development—there is an emerging opportunity to develop strategies related to land and housing that can help create inclusive, participatory, and sustainable economies built on locally-rooted, broad-based ownership of place-based assets.

Displacement Battles On Two Continents Show How We Can Reshape The Politics Of Housing

July 20, 2018 Isaiah J. Pole, Thenextsystem.org ,
Communities can do more than just put a Band-Aid on the problem of gentrification and displacement, and a panel of researchers who held a forum at the Democracy Collaborative’s offices in Washington discussed the best thinking and work happening on both sides of the Atlantic to keep housing affordable for everyone. In a panel entitled “The Politics of Land and Housing,” The Democracy Collaborative’s Jarrid Green and Peter Gowan were joined by Laurie Macfarlane, who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland and is co-author of The Economics of Land and Housing and editor of openDemocracy. (Watch the full panel discussion below.) Together, they discussed the financial-sector-driven processes that keep housing costs spiraling upward and how we can move toward a world in which housing is a social good for all rather than a profit center for a few.

Housing Prices Rise At Twice The Speed Of Inflation And Pay

June 9, 2018 Hari Kishan and Rahul Karunakar, Reuters.com , ,
After losing over a third of their value a decade ago, which led to the financial crisis and a deep recession, U.S. house prices have regained those losses - led by a robust labor market that has fueled a pickup in economic activity and housing demand. But supply has not been able to keep up with rising demand, making homeownership less affordable. Annual average earnings growth has remained below 3 percent even as house price rises have averaged more than 5 percent over the last few years. The latest poll of nearly 45 analysts taken May 16-June 5 showed the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 cities is expected to gain a further 5.7 percent this year. That compared to predictions for average earnings growth of 2.8 percent and inflation of 2.5 percent 2018, according to a separate Reuters poll of economists.

After Centuries Of Housing Racism, A Southern City Gets Innovative

May 26, 2018 Adam Lynch, Yesmagazine.org , ,
Denise Fitzgerald’s property abuts the string of quiet, empty lots that line Ewing Street in Jackson, Mississippi. Recently she was leaf-blowing detritus shed by the enormous sycamore tree dominating the yard of her tidy Habitat for Humanity home. She says she’d cut the tree down herself but knows it’s big enough to take out both her house and the house beside her if she dare try it. Fitzgerald is familiar with the empty lots of Ewing Street, just a few blocks from Jackson State University. She’s lived here since 2008, and she remembers when Ewing was a series of derelict buildings smeared across the neighborhood. Only two empty houses remain. The rest is a collection of oak and hackberry trees, with some untamed vines.

Tax Luxury Housing to Fund Social Housing

May 8, 2018 By Chuck Collins, Inequality.org , ,
I’ve traveled in a lot of major US cities in the last year outside of my hometown of Boston, Mass. Most of them are experiencing gentrification as wealthy newcomers drive up the cost of housing and displace long-time residents. But there’s an additional disruptive force — a sort of globally supercharged gentrification resulting from billions of dollars in global wealth flowing into residential real estate. Across these cities, new residential luxury towers are rising up like weeds. Last month, I wrote an op-ed in the Sunday Boston Globe that has triggered some great conversations. The piece, called “Time to Tax the Swanktuaries,” describes One Dalton Place — a building under construction that I see on my daily walk.  The article led to an interview on WBUR’s Radio Boston and a recent conversation on Boston Neighborhood Network with Chris Lovett.

2,461 Evictions …Every Day

April 17, 2018 Homes for All, Portside.org ,
A new national database of court filed evictions filed since 2000 released this week by The Eviction Lab documented an estimated 2.3 million people who were evicted last year. The database - which doesn’t account for hundreds of thousands of evictions through intimidation and diception that happen without ever going to court - found that 2461 people were evicted EVERY DAY last year in the United States. In many communities like Richmond, Virginia, as many as 1 in 9 renters faced eviction. For women, particularly black women, that rate of eviction is even higher. We launched Homes For All in 2013 because we believe that every single person has a right to a safe, affordable and dignified home. We believe that if we guarantee that every child, person and family can live in a quality home without fear of eviction, rent increases or intimidation our entire society will be better off.

A Plan To Solve The Housing Crisis Through Social Housing

April 6, 2018 Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper, Peoplespolicyproject.org , ,
Many American cities face a severe shortage of affordable housing — and not just for the poor, but well up into the upper-middle class. A recent report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies concluded: “The rental market thus appears to be settling into a new normal where nearly half of renter households are cost burdened,” or paying more than 30 percent of their income in rent. What these cities need is a dramatic increase in the number of mid-range and affordable dwellings to ease the price pressure on their rental markets. They should address the problem directly: by constructing a large number of government-owned municipal housing developments. Unlike traditional American public housing, all city residents will be eligible to live there. There are two major benefits to this approach. First, it adds new rental capacity in the housing market directly where it is needed.

South Africa’s Shack Dwellers See Politics Very Differently Than Average Westerner

February 12, 2018 By Vijay Prashad, AlterNet.org , , ,
Walking into the settlement at Kennedy Road in Durban, what one is confronted with is the familiarity of the place. I’ve been here before. Not to this settlement, but to others like it. To bastis in India and favelas in Brazil, to Mexico’s Neza-Chalco-Izta to Bangkok’s Klong Toey. The United Nation’s agency that monitors housing - UN Habitat - has said that there are a billion people in informal settlements (slums). A demographer at the UN tells me that within a few decades, he assumes that the number might easily double. In fact, he says, given how bad the data is, two billion people might already live in these kinds of vulnerable settlements. ‘We just don’t have the numbers,’ he said. The residents of Kennedy Road do not use the word ‘slum.’ They find the term dismissive and pejorative. Words aside, the residents would agree that they live in informal settlements. Kennedy Road is only one of Durban’s such habitats. A million of Durban’s citizens live in such places.
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