The Whitmer administration's Michigan Housing Plan has set an "audacious" goal of 75,000 new homes and rental units in the next few years to address a crisis of affordable housing across the state.
That's according to Amy Hovey, executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
Housing has become unaffordable for both lower- and middle-income people in Michigan, she said.
"Close to 50% of our renters are housing burdened, meaning they're spending over 30% of their income on housing expenses," said Hovey. "And the cost of for-sale housing has gone up about 84% in the last decade — while incomes have only gone up about 25%."
Hovey said the average cost of a new single family home is $375,000, and only about 1 million of the 4 million residents needing single-family homes in the state can afford $375,000.
"That's a crazy statistic," she said. "So we're here to [say], how do we address those issues? And the housing plan gives us a path out of the housing crisis."
The state plan calls for 15 regional partnerships dividing up the state and each coming up with a plan that fits the needs of their area.
Hovey said everyone from builders to municipalities to non-profits involved in the issue agree that affordable housing must be subsidized, due to dramatic increases in building costs.
She said the state has allocated about $80 million a year over the next few years to subsidize the effort, but it won't be enough, and there will have to be other sources of revenue, including federal dollars, public-private partnerships, and philanthropic funds.
MSHDA is encouraging everyone, including potential homebuyers, to become involved in the plan being developed by their regional partnership.
