Designing a Coordinated Network of Housing Supports in Detroit, MI

The Challenge

Many Detroit residents face challenges maintaining stable housing. The scale of poverty in the city has significant implications for housing affordability and stability: 34 percent of Detroit’s residents live in poverty, leading to a tenuous housing market where the majority of renters and homeowners are cost-burdened. Due to these affordability challenges, Detroit residents struggle with high rates of eviction and foreclosure. Among homeowners, 36 percent of households struggle to pay property tax each year, leading to a situation in which many homes are tax delinquent and at risk of foreclosure. Furthermore, Detroit’s aging housing stock (87 percent of all housing units were built before 1960) requires critical repairs which many residents can’t afford, leading to unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions.

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