Housing Equity Week in Review

Lots of questions and debate this week in housing equity and law. Here’s the latest for the week of February 21-27, 2017:

  • After a win for the Civil Gideon movement in New York, Next City asks if other cities could follow New York City’s lead and extend the right to counsel to low income tenants facing eviction?
  • There is a known racial wealth gap in the United States. Many attribute the wealth gap to the legacy of housing policies, such as redlining, that did not allow property of people of color to appreciate in the same manner as property of white Americans. Does that mean that today the solution to the wealth gap is in housing? Not necessarily argues Dorothy Brown of Emory University, via Forbes.
  • Diane Yentel, National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO, reflects on Mortgage Interest Deduction reform.
  • Bozeman, Montana cites city building and development code as a barrier to housing affordability. The debate on the effects of code continues politically, but is there evidence to back it up?
  • What does a Trump administration and large business tax cuts mean for affordable housing? Developers in California are concerned in the face of uncertainty as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program might become less attractive to banks and investors, via the LA Times.
  • While the research community still debates the extent to which gentrification leads to displacement, a new study in Journal of Urban Health assess the health outcomes of those who stay. Analysis via CityLab, paper here.

Housing Equity Week in Review

Some interesting local-level developments in housing, equity and law last week. Here’s our round-up of the news from last week, February 6-12, 2017:

  • What would happen if we stopped thinking about our home as an investment? Conor Dougherty of the New York Times argues that if we treated houses like we treat microwaves, the economy will improve and inequality will reduce.
  • Cleveland shared its timeline for first citywide housing inspection for lead
  • New York City will devote $90 million to offer legal representation for low income tenants in housing courts. This is a big victory for the “civil Gideon” right-to-council movement, via Gothamist.
  • The US Treasury and the Tennessee Housing Development Agency come together to provide funds for first time homebuyers down payments in Nashville, via NextCity

Did we miss any big housing, law and equity stories this week? Let us know!