Build Affordable Housing and Homeownership

Why I am Fighting For Affordable Housing and Homeownership?

For too long, too many have been pushed to the margins – working families losing their homes to foreclosure, seniors forced to choose between medicine and rent, young people locked out of the dream of homeownership, and entire Detroit neighborhoods hollowed out by disinvestment, neglect, and bureaucracy. Access to affordable housing is foundational for a family’s stability and homeownership is the primary path to building generational wealth. However, one in five Detroit residents are housing-cost burdened, spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs. Renters are significantly more likely to report housing cost burdens (30%) than homeowners, but homeowners experience this as well (18%). Despite Detroit’s affordable housing crisis, there is currently no coordinated strategy to fix it.

My Vision

Detroit needs to think bigger, build faster, and invest smarter. We need housing policy that reflects the values we preach—equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all. We need public-private partnerships that place people, not profit, at the center of problem-solving. We must start treating housing not as a privilege for the few, but as a fundamental right of the many. In the first 100 days as Mayor, the Kinloch administration will partner with philanthropic, business, labor, and community stakeholders to roll out the “Detroit Affordable Housing and Homeownership” strategy. This strategy will leverage the full range of existing Detroit housing expertise to (1) improve access to affordable housing for renters across the city, (2) protect existing homeowners and their homes, (3) grow affordable homeownership in the city, and (4) eliminate unnecessary barriers and bureaucracy to affordable housing development. Detroit residents deserve a future that rewards hard work, strengthens our families, and builds real wealth for our people. A Kinloch administration will make that a reality.

  • 1. Improve Access to Safe, Affordable Housing for All Across the City

    ● Build and preserve 10,000 affordable housing units across Detroit. The administration will incentivize mixed-income housing models through tax incentives, streamlined permitting processes, and gap financing to ensure affordability without economic segregation, creating integrated communities.

    Additionally, the administration will prioritize development on vacant and underutilized land owned by the city and land bank to reduce acquisition costs.

    Finally, the administration will partner with the city’s largest employers to co-fund workforce-affordable housing near their campuses.

    ● Expand rental-assistance programs for our most vulnerable residents. The administration will work with federal, state, and local housing authorities to locally fund and create new housing vouchers for our most vulnerable residents.

    These vouchers will serve families in immediate housing crises, and will prioritize inclusion in new affordable housing developments. Our administration will ensure that housing voucher distribution will occur equitably across neighborhoods, while guaranteeing deeply affordable units for more of Detroit’s lowest-income residents.

    2. Protect Existing Detroit Homeowners & Their Homes

    ● Reduce property taxes. The administration will expand property tax exemption and deferment programs to protect seniors, low-income homeowners, and legacy Detroiters from tax foreclosure. Additionally, I will work with the Governor and state legislature to find legislative solutions for lowering residential property taxes without lowering city revenue streams.

    ● Prevent foreclosures. The administration will work with the state legislature to renew the “Pay as You Stay” legislation, which has prevented foreclosure and kept 15,000 people in their homes over the last five years. Additionally, it will work with organizations to provide legal and financial counseling to help homeowners navigate property tax appeals and keep their homes secure.

    ● Offer home repair grants and no or low-interest loans to help residents maintain and improve aging homes. Additionally, we will coordinate with existing government agencies, nonprofits and foundations focused on home repair grants to create a streamlined approach adding efficiencies.

    3. Grow Affordable Homeownership in Detroit

    ● Fund homeownership. In partnership with philanthropic, government, and corporate partners, the administration will launch the city’s largest down payment assistance and low-interest loan program to help working families purchase their first home.

    ● Launch the Legacy Detroit homeownership initiative. The administration will prioritize assistance for renters currently living in Detroit neighborhoods to convert renters to owners and stabilize communities.

    4. Eliminate Unnecessary Barriers and Bureaucracy to Affordable Housing Development

    ● Prioritize affordable housing developers. The administration will prioritize and support affordable housing developers through the process of acquiring necessary state and city tax incentives, regulatory approvals, and building compliance certifications. Additionally, it will offer pre-development grants and expedited permitting to developers building affordable units.

    ● Support the establishment of Community Land Trusts (CLTs). The administration will identify and structure City and Detroit Land Bank Authority resources to support CLTs.

    ● Eliminate outdated barriers to housing production. Review and repeal obsolete regulations that unnecessarily slow or increase the cost of developing housing in Detroit.

    ● Strengthen the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund. This fund blends private, nonprofit, and public dollars to provide affordable financing for affordable housing development.

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