New report offers most comprehensive look yet at Louisiana housing
recovery programs three years after hurricanes
NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three years after
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered the homes of hundreds thousands of
Louisianans, too many residents are still unable to afford to rebuild their
homes or find an affordable place to rent, according to a new housing
report by the national research and advocacy group PolicyLink.
The new report, "A Long Way Home: The State of Housing Recovery in
Louisiana 2008," shows that while some progress has been made during the
past year, thousands of residents who want to return home are facing a
critical rental housing shortage, inadequate rebuilding grants and a
recovery plagued by red tape and ever-changing rules.
"For three years, Louisianans have been working hard to get back home,"
said co-author Kalima Rose, the director of the PolicyLink Louisiana
Initiative. "But enormous obstacles still stand in the way of a true
recovery. Workers can find few places to rent. Homeowners are short on
funds to rebuild. A fair, just housing recovery is vital to the overall
recovery of the Gulf Coast."
The report, which can be viewed at http://www.PolicyLink.org/ThreeYearsLater,
analyzes the three major federally funded housing recovery programs -- the
Road Home (for homeowners) and the small and large rental programs (for
renters). Together, these programs allocate nearly $12 billion in federal
recovery funds to restore housing in Louisiana.
Some key findings:
-- In New Orleans, 4 of every 5 Road Home recipients rebuilding their
homes did not get enough money to cover their repairs. Statewide, more than
2 of every 3 face the same predicament.
-- Statewide, the average Road Home applicant fell more than $35,000
short of the money they need to rebuild their home. The shortfall hit
highly flooded, historically African-American communities particularly
hard.
-- Nearly 40,000 low-income homeowners received an average of about
$27,000 each from an additional Road Home grant program designed to help
vulnerable residents.
-- Renters still face huge hurdles --- only 2 in 5 damaged affordable
rental units statewide will be repaired or replaced with recovery
assistance. In the New Orleans metro region, it's an even more dismal rate
of 1 in 3.
-- The national credit crunch and personal financial vulnerability
keeps many mom-and-pop landlords from being able to rebuild through the
small rental repair program. Meant to restore more than 10,000 rental
homes, the program has completed only 82.
-- Nearly 28,000 families nationwide still rely on disaster rental
assistance, with 14,000 in the greater New Orleans metro region alone.
There will not be nearly enough affordable rental units on the market by
the time the assistance runs out in March 2009.
The report -- featuring a broad array of statistics, maps and policy
recommendations -- is available at http://www.PolicyLink.org/ThreeYearsLater.
PolicyLink is a national research and action institute that has been
working on the ground advancing equity in Louisiana for nearly three years.
With an office in downtown New Orleans, PolicyLink is dedicated to the
long-term recovery of the Gulf Coast.
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