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Ariane Strakey

Professor Waldon

English 2010

4/13/2017

Homelessness and the Housing Crisis

Home ownership is one of the characteristics of the health of the economy. However, the

housing crisis and economic collapse of September 2008 was accompanied by an extensive loss

of property rights, turning many homeowners into tenants, and the subsequent increase in

demand for rented apartments raised rent prices enormously, especially in large cities. According

to the U.S. Census Bureau, the cost of rent for the average American family jumped by 34%

from 2006 to 2014 (Essert, 2016).

Utah has also been feeling the harsh effects of the housing crisis, and has a tremendous

need for more low-income housing. Some of the main problems include zoning regulations, a

shortage of government funded buildings to house this population, and the extremely high costs

of renting and owning. These costs have increased faster than that of the working wage in Utah,

and has forced many people into homelessness and desperate situations. Mayor Jackie Biskupski

has released a new 5-year plan, that will work on many of the legal and technical issues causing

this housing crisis. This is a plan that should be thoroughly reviewed and embraced by all

citizens, so that we can ensure Salt Lake City is a place we all want to continue living in.

In the 1980s and 1990s, financial planners said that Americans should spend about one-

third of their monthly income on rent or mortgage costs. But the National Alliance for Stopping
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Homelessness notes that the American poor often spend 50% of their income on housing. It's no

secret that the housing costs in New York and San Francisco are prohibitive, but the National

Lease Report Zumper notes that the average monthly fee for a single apartment in 2015 was

$1220 in Baltimore, $1250 in Atlanta, $1120 in Minneapolis, and $1190 in Dallas (Essert,

2016). A good recipe for combating homelessness is to increase income in proportion to the

growth of rent. Mayor Biskupskis proposed 5-year housing plan has taken this principle into

account, and in response to this problem, has proposed a set of ideas to lower the costs of

housing, especially for those who are living off of little to no income. The plan would give

financial assistance to renters and develop programs that would support and encourage home

ownership which would lead to the stabilization of very low income renters. This plan requires

allocation of city and state tax monies, and a network of local partners. (Growing SLC).

Stimulating the increase in housing construction through the creation of the necessary

legal conditions, is another key element. These tasks are being examined and enacted in the

Newtown Planning Code. The authors of this project indicate that its adoption is a prerequisite

for reducing administrative barriers in construction and creating a transparent and efficient

mechanism for the formed land plots for the construction of residential buildings. The Newton

Planning Code, and the laws putting it into effect, regulate the order and timing of the formation

of basic legal acts for the construction of settlements and order in the national planning and

regional planning proposals (Schwartz, 2011). This means that the new planning code is trying

to clear up many of the time-consuming legalities that hinder many construction and

development projects, largely the development of low income housing. Projects for low income

housing can spend years waiting for the right legal barriers to be crossed, and funds allocated.

This will give more opportunity to build low income housing condominiums, lowering the
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numbers of those waiting for government funded housing, as well as those on the verge of losing

their benefits, causing homelessness. The 5-year housing plan for Utah also embraces many of

these ideas and construction incentives.

A land plot is a piece of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s) (google).

As for the allocation of land for construction, it is indicated that after the formation of

land plots, the heads of municipal formations are provided with measures to provide them to

individuals and legal entities in the manner determined by property legislation. So, when land is

available to build on, the opportunity is mostly given to the commercial builders due to tax

codes. Many of the opportunities for low income buildings is lost before they even know about

it. The 5-year housing plan by Mayor Biskupski proposes to bring in the needed legislation to

give more opportunity to those allocating for land plots to build lower income housing

developments.

In order to increase the amount of housing available to the general public, the 5-Year

Housing plan proposes to significantly increase the volume of budget investments in

this sphere, restore the state management system of the construction complex, and plan its

activities, expand the list of categories of citizens receiving housing from the state free of

charge, or on preferential terms.

The current Housing Code, leaves the right to free housing only for the "poor," and only

under the contract of social hiring or government-funded work programs. Who is considered to

be poor is determined by the local government on the methodology developed by the

government. Other categories of citizens recognized as needing better housing conditions must
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receive apartments under a social contract of employment "for an affordable fee (with a charge

for the use of a dwelling)." For the poor who have not privatized (paid for ownership of) their

apartment or dwelling, and have entered into perpetual social employment contracts, there is an

exemption from payment for the living space, while they retain their distress. (Schwartz, 2011).

We currently live in a complicated society with many complicated problems. Gone are

the days when a person can start working at a company after high-school or college, and be able

to afford a home shortly thereafter. Inflation, and the costs of living are extremely high, and

millions of people have been left homeless, or on the brink of homelessness. While these

problems are difficult, they are not insurmountable. Different options need to be examined and

tried. For the problems in Utah, and Salt Lake City, Mayor Biskupskis 5-Year Housing Plan is

an option that needs to be tried. While it may not be perfect, it is a well thought-out, sound

proposal that could help hundreds, if not thousands, of people in our own community. This plan

needs the support of every voting American, as well as outside community support. Helping

people, and strengthening our nation, should start at home, with the people in our own

communities. America cannot be a nation that reaches her hand out to feed and house refugees,

and help other countries, while at the same time, allowing millions of her own citizens to

continue to fall onto hard times and homelessness.

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Works Cited

Essert, C. (2016). Property and Homelessness. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 44(4),

266-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/papa.12080

Growing SLC: A 5 Year Housing Plan, Housing & Neighborhood Development, 02/2017,
http://www.slcdocs.com/hand/Housing_plan_short.pdf, 03/04/2017

Schneider, B., & Remillard, C. (2013). Caring about homelessness: how identity

work maintains the stigma of homelessness. Text & Talk, 33(1).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/text-2013-0005

Schwartz, A. (2011). Lessons from the Housing Crisis. Family And Consumer Sciences Research Journal,
40(1), 3-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-3934.2011.02084.x

Semuels, A. (2016). How Can the U.S. End Homelessness?. The Atlantic.

Retrieved 26 March 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/end

homelessness-us/479115/