Eugene R. Young Jr. was appointed director of the Delaware State Housing Authority in 2021. The authority, created in 1968, serves as a housing finance and community development agency, and owns and operates public housing sites in Kent and Sussex counties.
By Eugene R. Young Jr.
There is no getting around it. There is no sugarcoating it. Delaware, and the nation as a whole, is in a housing crisis.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Delaware has a shortage of affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renters who make less than $35,000 for a four-person household. Homeownership also remains out of reach for many Delawareans due to the low inventory of affordable homes in many areas and rising interest rates.
As a state, we have already taken historic steps to address these shortages with the help of over $120 million in one-time supplemental funding provided by fiscal recovery funds and the American Rescue Plan Act. The Delaware State Housing Authority is deploying these funds to finance the development, preservation and rehabilitation of Delaware housing units through new programs, which are:
These funds are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drastically shift the tides and ensure future generations do not find themselves in the same environment as we are today. But that doesn’t necessarily help families tomorrow. We must remain vigilant and proactive in addressing the housing crisis.
As a result, the Delaware State Housing Authority is in the process of completing a statewide housing needs assessment, which will:
This comprehensive research process, which will produce a report late this summer, comprises three parts — interviews, data collection and a survey of Delaware residents. The priority? Hearing directly from residents about their housing experiences.
So my request for every Delawarean is to take 15 minutes out of your day to complete the authority’s housing needs assessment survey. It’s available online through Friday, April 7, in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, and printed copies are available by request.
Have you ever had to move out of a home in Delaware when you didn’t want to? Would it be easy or complicated if you had to find a new place to live in Delaware? How would you describe the housing market in Delaware?
We want to hear it all. Your responses will lay out a blueprint for our agency on how to best meet your needs moving forward.
The Delaware State Housing Authority completes a housing needs assessment process approximately every five years, and this year’s research may be more critical than ever before. With your help, our current efforts will lead to informed and data-driven decision-making that will close existing gaps and set our state up for the future.
