Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition releases 2023 Policy Priorities
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – With the release of their policy priorities for 2023, the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition is calling on Indiana’s policymakers to make a coordinated effort to combat the state’s increasing housing affordability and stability crisis with policies that strengthen habitability standards and protections for safe and stable housing for all; increase the supply of affordable housing for Hoosier communities who most need it; and ensure existing housing is more affordable and accessible for all Hoosiers. The Coalition’s recommendations include calls for allowing tenants facing serious health and safety issues to be able to put rent into escrow until problems are addressed; converting Indiana’s renter deduction into a refundable tax credit that reflects cost increases; and creating an Indiana Commission on Housing & Homelessness to pilot a permanent emergency rental assistance program and address long-term solutions for the state.
Amid ongoing economic disruptions and increased costs, housing remains Hoosiers’ top unmet need, according to Indiana 211. More than 132,000 Hoosier households have experienced an eviction filing since March 2020, with an estimated 75,000 households and 79,000 children currently behind on rent and at risk of eviction and homelessness. The state’s own Indiana Housing Dashboard shows a gap of more than 450,000 rental units that are affordable to the families who need them.
However, bipartisan momentum throughout the state, including from the Indiana General Assembly's Housing Task Force, presents a unique opportunity for policymakers at the state, federal, and local levels to begin making a permanent improvement in Indiana’s housing outcomes. But to make a lasting impact, Indiana must target solutions to the Hoosiers and communities most in need, and to incorporate their input in plans for increased housing supply and strengthened standards.
“The past two years have proven that housing is healthcare and also the foundation for economic stability for Hoosiers and their communities,” said Derris “Dee” Ross, Founder and CEO of The Ross Foundation and Indianapolis Tenants Rights Union, and the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition’s representative on the Indiana Housing Task Force. “We know housing stability and affordability in Indiana is a statewide crisis that affects rural, urban, and suburban areas alike. But we also know that evictions, homelessness, and high housing costs have put a disproportionate burden on Black and brown households, older Hoosiers, and other vulnerable communities throughout the state. In order to address these disparities, Indiana must increase the supply of affordable housing while also strengthening habitability standards and tenant protections to provide a bridge to short-term housing stability and a pathway to affordable rental housing and home ownership,” Ross said.
The Coalition released the following policy priorities for 2023:
Indiana’s housing stability and affordability crisis has been exacerbated by ongoing economic disruptions and increased costs, and continues to threaten hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Hoosier households. And while Indiana’s housing crisis affects rural, urban, and suburban communities statewide, Black and brown Hoosiers, low-income renters, and families with children remain disproportionately at risk.
In 2023, the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition will prioritize support for policies that strengthen habitability standards and protections for safe and stable housing for all; increase the supply of affordable housing for Hoosier communities who most need it; and ensure existing housing is more affordable and accessible for all Hoosiers.
Strengthen habitability standards and protections for safe and stable housing for all.
Create a Housing Stability Pilot Fund to serve as a bridge to a flexible permanent emergency rental assistance and homelessness diversion program with federal, state, local, and public-private resources
Catch Indiana up with the 90% of states that allow renters living in housing facing severe health and safety violations to put rent into escrow or repair issues & deduct incurred costs from rent
Increase resources for court-based eviction diversion programs and adopt a statute outlining the eviction process in the Indiana court system
Increase the supply of affordable housing for Hoosier communities who most need it.
Support building new affordable housing and rental units and preserving existing units for the lowest-income Hoosiers with the highest housing cost burdens
Increase the number of community-based organizations and nonprofits participating in federal and state Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs
Empower local communities to shape the development of new affordable housing and strengthen habitability standards
Ensure existing housing is more affordable and accessible for those communities.
Transform Indiana’s renter deduction into a refundable renter’s credit so that no low-income Hoosier is left out, and increase the amount to reflect current costs
Support opportunities, programs, or policies for those seeking the American dream of homeownership by addressing barriers to fair lending, ensuring fair value of homes, and counteracting risks of displacement
Create a Governor-appointed Indiana Commission on Housing & Homelessness with multi-agency and community members empowered to coordinate available resources and restructure services to improve housing affordability and stability, and to direct the Housing Stability Pilot program
Address unaccountable out-of-state and corporate investors who neglect existing housing stock
