Harris County utilized it’s My Home is Here needs assessment as a guide in developing the program.  The needs assessment engaged the community to determine the current conditions and gaps regarding housing and the community’s desires on how to best to address the issues.

Additionally, guidelines were created by coordinating with a Focus Area Team and Steering Committee consisting of staff from the Four County Commissioner’s Precincts and the County Judge’s Office. The Guidelines were distributed throughout the Houston Housing Collaborative

The current goal is to purchase over 20 single-family homes and resell them to clients in the Harris County Community Land Trust Pipeline.

There is an affordability crisis in Harris County. HUD defines “affordable” as having housing costs that total less than 30% of a household’s income. In Harris County, almost 500,000 households with incomes below $75,000 are paying more than 30% of their incomes for their homes today. The cost burden of housing affects people across job types, income levels, and neighborhoods.

There are several reasons for the affordability crisis, including:

• Lack of availability of affordable homes for extremely low-income households
• Maintenance and housing quality challenges
• Spatial mismatch between need and available homes (i.e. number of bedrooms to occupancy comparison)
• Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused housing instability for an increased number of families due to job loss and income reduction or loss. Additionally, costs of goods have risen and impacted the affordability of construction and repair. These factors, combined with a projected population growth of 200,000 households in the next ten years, create a growing demand for housing. To meet projected needs and support existing residents, it is estimated Harris County will need an additional 20,000 new homes per year, primarily for those households earning less than $35,000 per year.