(The Center Square) - Oklahoma is projected to fall short of the state’s housing needs in the next several years, according to a new report discussed by lawmakers Wednesday.
Oklahoma will need over 173,000 new homes by 2028, according to Census Bureau data included in the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency’s evaluation of the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency.
The report said the state will fall short by just under 16,000 homes at the current build rate.
While OHFA’s programs focus on low-income multi-family housing, the state faces a shortage of affordable housing of all types, LOFT Executive Director Mike Jackson told lawmakers on the LOFT Oversight Committee.
Since 2015, 99% of all new housing developments subsidized with tax credits were designed for low-income households, according to the report.
“My constituents that are not in Section 8 housing are crying out because they have nowhere to rent and nowhere to live,” said Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, adding rising rents are hurting people of all levels of income. “Is there any solution that doesn’t, at a bare minimum, include ‘we need to build more houses?’ Because houses that could qualify for Section 8 pre-pandemic don’t. The rent’s too high.”
Echols said Oklahoma needs to see housing developments for all kinds of starter and affordable homes.
Jackson agreed workforce housing was just as crucial as low-income housing.
“The only solution we’ve seen from a state’s response is to look at addressing the supply side of housing,” Jackson replied.
New state programs that present promise, according to the report, include the Oklahoma Housing Stability Program, which was created through the legislature in 2023 and appropriated $215 million in housing programs.
Around $100 million was allocated for home builder subsidies for home ownership, with 75% of the funding set aside for rural projects where the need for flexible housing is the greatest, the LOFT report said.
The Housing Stability Program also includes another housing program that covers a developer subsidy for rental housing and a consumer down payment and closing cost assistance program.
While the state looks for solutions to increase its housing stock, OHFA is seeing market conditions limit the impact of its current housing assistance programs, according to the report.
“Because this program is tied to home prices, which are on the rise, it will assist fewer homebuyers going forward,” said Mike Davis, a legal analyst for LOFT.
While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has increased OHFA’s funding for housing vouchers by 19% over the last decade, the number of units covered by vouchers has decreased by almost 3%, Davis said.
“If federal funding for housing vouchers remains level and market conditions do not ease, fewer vouchers will be available. Additionally, families are staying on the voucher program longer than they used to,” said Davis.
LOFT recommended that OHFA promote awareness of its Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which incentivizes voucher recipients to become independent of the program.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News