LOOK AT WHAT’S BEING DONE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. HOME OWNERSHIP IS PART OF THE AMERICAN DREAM, BUT MANY WOULD AGREE IT IS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO AFFORD A HOME OR EVEN THE RENT. THAT’S WHY STATE LAWMAKERS FORMED THE KENTUCKY HOUSING TASK FORCE TO SEE HOW THEY COULD HELP. IN OUR VIEW, THE HOUSING SUPPLY SHORTAGE IS KENTUCKY’S MOST URGENT ISSUE. WENDY SMITH OF THE KENTUCKY HOUSING CORPORATION TOLD THE TASK FORCE THE HOUSING SHORTAGE IS NOW LEADING TO OTHER PROBLEMS. WE ARE SEEING A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THESE NUMBERS IN WHAT IS CALLED FIRST TIME HOMELESSNESS, WHICH IS OFTEN AN INDICATOR OF A MARKET PROBLEM. THE MARKET HAS GOTTEN SO EXPENSIVE, MORE PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS FOR THE FIRST TIME. SMITH BLAMED A VARIETY OF FACTORS SINCE THE 2008 HOUSING CRISIS, FEWER HOMES ARE BEING BUILT. MANY PEOPLE LEFT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AFTER THAT RECESSION AND NEVER CAME BACK, AND TIGHTER BANKING RULES AND INFLATION HAVE MADE IT MORE EXPENSIVE TO BUILD. REPRESENTATIVE SUSAN TYLER WHITTEN IS CO-CHAIRING THE TASK FORCE RURAL URBAN SUBURBAN, RENTING AND OWNING IT REALLY AFFECTS EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN KENTUCKY, AND THAT’S WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT THAT WE’RE DOING THIS IN THE INTERIM, WHITTEN SAYS. THE INFORMATION GATHERED IN THIS TASK FORCE WILL LEAD TO LEGISLATION IN THE 2025 SESSION. WE’RE LOOKING AT EVERYTHING BETWEEN HOUSING COSTS, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, TO THE POPULATION NEEDS. BUT ALSO WE’RE GOING TO BE TAKING A LOOK AT STATE AND LOCAL REGULATIONS AND POLICIES. UM, ORDINANCES. SMITH SAYS THE FOCUS SHOULD BE SIMPLE INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF HOMES AND APARTMENTS. WE WOULD HAVE HIGHER HOME OWNERSHIP RATES. WE WOULD HAVE MORE WORKFORCE HOUSING. IF WE JUST HAD MORE SUPPLY, WE WOULD HAVE LOWER EVICTION RATES. WE WOULD HAVE FEWER HOMELESS KENTUCKIANS, AND WE’D HAVE INCREASED HOUSEHOLD STABILITY AND THAT, SHE SAYS, WOULD BENEFI
What is causing higher home prices? Kentucky task force hears from state expert
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Updated: 6:55 PM EDT Jun 24, 2024
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Kentucky's housing supply shortage is the state's most urgent issue – one that affects everything from family pocketbooks to economic development to homelessness, according to one expert.Wendy Smith, deputy director of housing programs at the Kentucky Housing Corporation, spoke to the Kentucky Housing Task Force, a group of state lawmakers that met for the first time Monday in Frankfort. "We are seeing a significant increase in what is called first-time homelessness, which is often an indicator of a market problem," Smith said. "The market has gotten so expensive, more people are experiencing homelessness for the first time."The gap between supply and demand for housing in Kentucky sits at 206,207 units, Smith said. And she expects that gap to grow worse if something is not done.The task force will discuss the issue in the coming months and make recommendations in December, said co-chair Rep. Susan Tyler Witten, R-Louisville, who expects legislation to follow in the 2025 General Assembly."Rural, urban, suburban, renting and owning, it really affects every single person in Kentucky," Witten said. "That's why it's so important that we're doing this in the interim."Much of the problem can be traced to the 2008 recession, said Smith, whose group helps administer federal funds and tax incentives to affordable housing developers. Many construction workers left the industry, driving up labor costs. Stricter lending rules have made borrowing money more difficult for developers. Overall, fewer homes are being built, which puts pressure on all buyers. In the end, Smith said, low-income buyers suffer the most.She urged state lawmakers to focus on increasing supply."We would have higher homeownership rates," she told lawmakers. "We would have more workforce housing, if we just had more supply. We would have lower eviction rates. We would have fewer homeless Kentuckians, and we would have increased household stability."
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky's housing supply shortage is the state's most urgent issue – one that affects everything from family pocketbooks to economic development to homelessness, according to one expert.
Wendy Smith, deputy director of housing programs at the Kentucky Housing Corporation, spoke to the Kentucky Housing Task Force, a group of state lawmakers that met for the first time Monday in Frankfort.
"We are seeing a significant increase in what is called first-time homelessness, which is often an indicator of a market problem," Smith said. "The market has gotten so expensive, more people are experiencing homelessness for the first time."
The gap between supply and demand for housing in Kentucky sits at 206,207 units, Smith said. And she expects that gap to grow worse if something is not done.
The task force will discuss the issue in the coming months and make recommendations in December, said co-chair Rep. Susan Tyler Witten, R-Louisville, who expects legislation to follow in the 2025 General Assembly.
"Rural, urban, suburban, renting and owning, it really affects every single person in Kentucky," Witten said. "That's why it's so important that we're doing this in the interim."
Much of the problem can be traced to the 2008 recession, said Smith, whose group helps administer federal funds and tax incentives to affordable housing developers.
Many construction workers left the industry, driving up labor costs. Stricter lending rules have made borrowing money more difficult for developers. Overall, fewer homes are being built, which puts pressure on all buyers. In the end, Smith said, low-income buyers suffer the most.
She urged state lawmakers to focus on increasing supply.
"We would have higher homeownership rates," she told lawmakers. "We would have more workforce housing, if we just had more supply. We would have lower eviction rates. We would have fewer homeless Kentuckians, and we would have increased household stability."
