Did You Know?
Affordable housing facts you should know:
What do you mean by "affordable"?
- A home or apartment that is affordable to those families earning 80% of Area Median Income ($51,500/year for a family of four) or below.
- 50% of Area Median Income represents a family of four earning $32,188 a year.
Additionally:
- Affordable housing demand far outstrips supply.
- Even rental housing is unaffordable to many working households.
- Rental units much more likely to experience deterioration.
- 25,000 lowest income renters pay over half of their income for housing.
- 11,000 low income homeowners pay over half of their income for housing.
- Home foreclosures have tripled in Columbus and Franklin County over the past seven years.
About Us
The Trust Philosophy:
- Production
With the support of the City, the County and our other partners, The Housing Trust has committed over $17 million to housing projects in Columbus and Franklin County resulting in the production of more than 1,772 homes and apartments. Of importance to the Trust and the community is increasing the capacity of both non-profit and for profit developers. We do this by lending money for construction, acquisition, bridge or gap financing and providing technical assistance as needed. - Affordability
A majority of the homes and apartments financed by the Housing Trust are made available to families and the elderly that earn 80% of the Area Median Income and below ($51,000/yr for a family of four).
For example:47% of the housing units have been made available to a family of two earning under $20,000 (two wage earners who each earn $5.00/hr) or a family of four earning under $26,000/year (two wage earners who each earn $6.50/hr)
- 31% of the housing units have been made available to a family of two earning under $30,000/year (two wage earners who earn $7.50/hr) or, a family of four earning under $38,000/year (two wage earners earning $9.50/hr
- Efficiency
While the mission of the Housing Trust centers on the creation of affordable housing, we are also mindful of the critical need to be an efficient, cost-effective organization. We have a responsibility to be a good steward of public funds, and we measure our efficiency in a couple of ways.Leveraging Dollars: By partnering with developers, banks, not-for-profit organizations and others, the Housing Trust's loans actually spur a much greater investment in affordable housing. To date, each dollar loaned by the Housing Trust has generated $11.50 of investment in our community's supply of affordable housing.
Operating Costs: The Housing Trust works to carefully manage its operating expenses. By keeping its costs stable while increasing its lending each year, the cost to local taxpayers is kept very low. Through 2004, the net cost of the Housing Trust's operation has been less than $1185 for every housing unit created.