This dissertation examines housing policy alternatives to address housing insecurity in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi and similar non-metropolitan communities experiencing accelerated growth. At any given time, those struggling with housing insecurity are just one crisis away from homelessness. Housing insecurity is problematic nationally and locally in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi, as the community grows and the resulting demand for housing increases.
Housing insecurity is an important determinant of life because of its direct impact on health, education, employment, food security, and the health of the overall economy (Cutts, Meyers, Black, Casey, Chilton, Cook, & Frank, 2011 ). What policy alternatives exist to address housing insecurity in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi and similar communities. The housing market crash of 2008 served as an insight into the issue of housing insecurity for millions of American families and moved the conversation into the national spotlight.
Research shows that housing insecurity is associated with poor health, lower weight and lower developmental weight in young children (Cutts et al., 2011). As housing insecurity grows in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi, government officials are increasingly recognizing the substantial housing problem that must be addressed. Housing insecurity and the lack of affordable housing in the community had a major impact on the 2017 municipal elections.
Public officials assume that housing insecurity in the community can be attributed to a lack of affordable housing and that housing is priced too high to purchase relative to income levels.
Background of Housing Policy
However, the purpose of creating the FHA and the Federal Home Loan Bank System was to help the lending institutions and tear the US apart. In 1938, the first government-sponsored company was established, marking the beginning of the secondary mortgage market. While the housing market of the 1930s was dominated by the Great Depression and recovery efforts, the advances made during this time in housing and community planning set the stage for the next decade (Mason, 1982).
By the end of the decade, housing had risen to new heights, and under President Truman's administration, it continued to do so. By the late 1940s, the American market strived for planning, purchasing, decorating and other home tools to improve the quality of life. Concepts such as cluster planning, ring roads, open space and streetscapes had emerged and led to the suburban rush of the 1950s.
The 1960s also marked the launch of a new approach – the ability of public housing authorities to lease privately owned units to their tenants. This program allows communities to finance their development with flexibility, following the approval of the housing assistance plan submitted to HUD.
Methodology
34;What policy alternatives exist to address housing insecurity in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi and similar communities?". First, I did a limited search in the University of Mississippi library's One Search function to identify words relevant keywords included in the title, abstract, suggested solutions, and subject descriptors Second, the terms thus identified were used in an extensive search of the existing literature in the University of Mississippi's One Search database.
The search settings were limited to full text online, English, peer-reviewed journal articles and published in the last 12 months. Keywords searched were ''Housing Policy'', ''United States'' and ''Affordable'' with the subject terms of housing and policy and disciplines of economics, public health, government and sociology. Third, I filtered through the abstracts of the 139 journal articles, excluding those that did not discuss policy implications, recommendations, or alternatives.
Full copies of the journal articles identified by the search and deemed to meet the inclusion criteria were obtained based on their title, abstract and subject descriptions. Of the 139 journal articles returned by the search results, eight journal articles remained after being filtered to include policy alternatives. Fourth, housing policy alternatives were examined from the selected journal articles for the United States, whether the policy recommendations were for metropolitan, urban, or nonmetropolitan communities.
Fifth, policy alternatives are presented, as supported by findings, to address housing insecurity in the community of Lafayette-Oxford, Mississippi and similar communities.
Housing Policy Alternatives
This suggests that the absence of regulation as a whole leads to the weakening of housing market health. If there are problems with the public housing authority, the tenant has the power to contact HUD for correction and re-examination of the issue (Assad, n.d.). Reforms to public housing have been extensive, with particular note of the HOPE VI program of the 1990s which provided block grants for more aesthetically pleasing row housing.
Regulation of the housing market seeks to improve communities through supply suppression, mostly through zoning, building standards, permits to add supply, and fees (Metcalf 2018). Although many of the regulations on zoning and building codes are necessary, they have the negative effect of acting as a barrier to entry, preventing innovations in architecture, delaying development, and increasing production costs (Metcalf, 2018). White flight is the migration of wealthy, white homeowners who move to the suburbs to avoid the minorities of the city.
This is the case in Asheville, North Carolina, where a progressive local community must constantly debate against the conservative state government's housing legislation (Kerstein & Strom, 2017). Researchers see foreclosures as the result of several factors related to housing market performance, including subprime and predatory lending, price volatility, and financial market innovation, including the expansion of the secondary mortgage market. While foreclosures affect the health of the market and are particularly prevalent in a housing dynamic that is facing severe population loss due to a glut of vacant homes,
Unemployment insurance has been found to serve as a housing market stabilizer, even if this was not the original intent of the policy. Unemployment insurance acts as one of the largest federal transfer programs and has the potential to prevent mortgage defaults during defaults by making the loan payments of displaced workers easier to pay. A study evaluating the impact of unemployment insurance by exploiting variations in benefit generosity across states and over time found that increasing the program's generosity eases mortgage delinquency, particularly for the unemployed, and reduces foreclosures (Hsu et al. al., 2018).
Preventing foreclosures reduced the fiscal costs of expanding unemployment insurance, as one-sixth of the 273 billion paid out flowed back to the government by preventing losses to the government-sponsored mortgage companies (Hsu et al., 2018). Current Asheville is a manifestation of the economic and political capital of the city, which came together in the interest of. Local private business owners, with a vested interest in Asheville, mobilized capital, while local political leaders interested in improving ideological, geographic, racial, and interest-based policies mobilized votes for the development of the city (Mollenkopf, 1983).
Instead of large-scale developments or housing efforts, the Asheville City Council has pushed for a downtown of small-scale projects that revitalize the amenities of the town, financially supported by the greater tourism appeal of the area (Kerstein & Strom, 2017). While discussions were often fueled by suspicion from the 'other side' and even had to be mediated by a professional at one point, this open discussion led to the creation of a "master plan".
Discussion and Recommendations
I also recommend that a coalition be formed between public and private interests, which is locally engaged in the community. I recommend that the community land fund buy vacant, abandoned or foreclosed homes to build the quantity and stock of affordable housing. Administratively, if not run by the housing authority, the newly created council or team will oversee the development and maintenance of the community's land stock to ensure housing is adequate and affordable.
Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539417/. Retrieved from https://www.innovations.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/. Advantages and disadvantages of public housing communities. Retrieved from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/pros-cons-public-housing-communities-8165.html Ault, M. https://www.novoco.com/sites/default/files/atoms/files/chp_housing_landscape_ . Retrieved from https://www.strongtowns.org/journal organizing-and-the-community-land-trust-model The Benefit of Sidewalks. http://www.healthbydesignonline.org/documents/HbDFSSidewalks.pdf.
Retrieved from https://www.cmhcschl.gc.ca/en/inpr/afhoce/afhoce/afhostcast/afh. oid/fite/colatr /colatr_002.cfm. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordms.net/2037-comprehensive-plan. 34; How do changes in the design of housing vouchers affect rent and neighborhood quality?". Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/12/americas-eviction-epidemic-matthew-desmond-housing-crisis.
Retrieved from https://boomerandecho.com/living-in-the-city-vs-the-suburbs-pros-and-cons/. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29(4). https://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45eehm/14-jackson-wy-id/#1ff3178f46cc Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/housing- network/2017/feb/24/trump-us-housing-policies-poor-middle-america-too Gagliano, S. Oxford Housing Authority And City Officials Address. hottytoddy.com oxford- housing-authority-city-officials-address- riverbank-place-issue/. The economic implications of housing provision.
Retrieved from http://www.djournal.com/news/oxford-announces-new-mayor-alderman-after-tuesday-elections. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-housing/out-in-the-cold-new-u-s-budget-priorities-threaten-housing-aid-programs-idUSKBN16C0JG Oxford Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36231884/ns/business eye_on_the_economy/t/study-million-households-lost-recession/.
