Tackling Minor Home Repairs: A key to combating the affordable housing crisis

National Homeownership Month spotlights the importance of owning a home as a means of building generational wealth and creating secure, healthy and safe environments for families.

But purchasing a home represents only the first step in homeownership. When homeowners are unable to manage maintenance and repairs, the benefits of homeownership can quickly evaporate.

To examine this issue locally, LISC Greater Kansas City, in conjunction with Hoxie Collective LLC, published a report, Jackson County: Minor Home Repair Program Study in December 2023. The study looked at the challenges of handling home repairs, as well as local providers and resources available to help address the need.

Minor Home Repair programs, the report noted, represent “the front line of anti-displacement and community health strategies.”

Minor Repairs, Major Headaches

For low-income homeowners, the inability to afford needed repairs is a common financial stressor, according to a 2020 National Community Reinvestment Corporation report. Even minor home repairs can become major headaches. The cost of construction materials and labor has skyrocketed, making repairs even more unaffordable.

The problem is also stressful for seniors. According to Habitat for Humanity, more than 19 million older adults nationwide are living in homes that are in disrepair or ill-equipped to safely meet their needs. A senior who purchased a home decades ago may find themselves in an untenable situation. Their house is paid for, but the senior cannot afford to make repairs. Downsizing isn’t an option, because the cost of apartment rentals in the community has climbed sharply.

Help with repairs enables seniors to remain in their own homes, where they can age in place, close to their networks of caregivers. For working adults, repair assistance helps maintain access to stable jobs and community connections. Children can remain in stable, educational, social and caregiving environments.

Home Repair: A Good Value

“Repairs are one of the most affordable housing solutions,” according to the Coalition for Home Repair.

Rebuilding Together (a home-repair nonprofit with a chapter in Kansas City) reports that every dollar invested in repair work generated $2.84 in “social value.” Almost half of that savings ($1.32) was due to reduced Medicare and Medicaid costs; home repairs meant fewer falls and hospitalizations, fewer fire-related injuries, less exposure to lead, less stress and depression, and for seniors, reduced use of assisted living facilities.

Home repairs also prevent bigger problems down the road, by eliminating opportunities for mold to grow, or for rodent or insect infestations. Not surprisingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified access to home improvement loans and grants as a “high-impact strategy” for addressing the root causes of poor health.

Home repairs benefit the entire community, in addition to the individual receiving help with repairs. One study in Philadelphia linked home repair with crime reduction: researchers found that blocks receiving home repairs enjoyed a 22 percent reduction in total crime compared to blocks that received no repairs. Investing in repairs can also help prevent property abandonment, which can accelerate overall community decline.

The estimated “repair bill” to make needed improvements in housing nationwide is staggering: $149.3 billion in 2023, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Still, that’s a fraction of the cost of new construction.

To address the need for affordable housing, it’s critical to ensure that homeowners have the resources they need to tackle minor home repairs.