Housing

Housing

Housing

 LWV POLICIES AND POSITIONS—Housing and Homelessness, include:

  • The conviction that every person and family should have decent, safe, and affordable housing. 
  • Support policies and programs to provide a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family, to prevent or reduce poverty and to promote self-sufficiency for individuals and families.
  • Support the use of all funds from the FL Sadowski Housing Trust Fund to be used solely for affordable housing
  • LWV_ImpactOnIssues2022-2024.pdf  LWVUS housing positions pages 145-157 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND LEE COUNTY IAN RECOVERY

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has allocated $1,107,881,000 in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding directly to Lee County to assist with the county's long-term recovery following Hurricane Ian,  CDBG-DR (leegov.com).  Informational Flyer   CDBG-DR One Pager.pdf (leegov.com)      

Action Plan:  Lee County Final CDBG-DR Action Plan 9.19.2023.pdf (leegov.com)  leegov.com/recovery/cdbg-dr  CDBG-DR (arcgis.com)

Lee County Commissioners established the The Recovery Task Force (RTF) RESILIENT LEE | ResilientLee    www.resilientlee.com  as an advisory committee on the region’s response and recovery to the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian in September 2022. 

The Task Force has 13 leaders with eight branches that bring together public, private, and non-profit sector subject matter experts (SMEs) to support key areas of recovery.  Calendar of Meetings    EVENT CALENDAR | ResilientLee

 Affordable & Attainable Housing - Fact or Fiction?, November 4th, 2023, Recording link: Affordable & Attainable Housing - Fact or Fiction, Nov 4, 2023

Speakers Michael Allan, Founder and President of ReVital Development Group and Ali Ankudowich. Technical Advisor with the Florida Housing Coalition.  Here are the links to access the Powerpoint slides presented by the speakers as well as content on Manufactured Housing as a potential solution.
Michael Allan Powerpoint
Ali Ankudowich Powerpoint
Manufactured Housing as Affordable Single-Family or ADU Infill Homes Primer

Lee County Housing Status/Statistics 

Affordable and attainable housing is an ongoing concern for many Lee County families.  The 2020 Lee County Human Services Gap Analysis identified affordable housing as a critical need.  In 2021, 42% of Lee County’s 320,466 households lived paycheck to paycheck with no resources for emergencies, according to United Way’s ALICE Report.   Following Ian, housing became more critical to the most vulnerable populations and those without the resources to recover.  2023 Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Funds.  

  • Severe cost-burden is defined as paying more than 50% of one’s income for rent. 
    • In 2018, Lee County’s Percentage of Cost-burdened Renters was 55.4% .
    • More than 20,000 households in Lee County are severely cost burdened.
  • Teachers pay more than 40% of their take home pay for housing.
  • Teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and other essential public personnel wages have not kept pace with inflation nor the rising cost of housing.
  • 52,000 families spend more than 50% of their pay on housing, according to Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties.

 Resources include: 

Issues: 
Housing