Beyond the Foreclosure Crisis: Reconstituting the Rental Housing Market in Pennsylvania

The April 2009 report by the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government highlights the important role that affordable rental housing plays in the both improving local economies and stabilizing regional real estate markets.

From the Introduction:

The lack of reasonable rental options for households in the turn-of-the-century real estate market was a contributing factor to the current housing crisis. Future crises can be avoided and long-term economic stability can be promoted through the creation of healthy rental housing markets. As steps are being taken to assist families who have lost their homes or are threatened with foreclosure, now is the time for action to reconstitute healthy rental housing markets as an economic development priority for Pennsylvania cities and towns.

Specifically the report recommends pre-sale inspection ordinances and strict code enforcement, greater emphasis on moderate housing rehabilitation rather then more costly full-gut rehabilitations, the use of tax abatements, greater conservatorship powers over blighted properties with absentee landlords, community land trusts as a way of containing property value spikes, rental assistance as opposed to always rehabilitating properties, Neighborhood Assistance Programs, the advantages of own-to-rent in the face of foreclosure, and the use of equity funds created by major academic or health institutions. The full report can be viewed here:

http://www.housingalliancepa.org/var/newsfile/file/301-Reconstituting%20Rental_Kromer_Fels042009.pdf