Creative Low-Income Housing

By: Anessa Cohen

Low-income housing has always followed three molds put out by government agencies. First mold has been the building of apartment buildings with units rented to different levels of low- to middle-income families based on sliding scale.

Mold number two featured a set number of apartments put aside for low- to middle-income families based on a ceiling threshold as part of newly-constructed, privately-constructed luxury buildings where the developer got some kind of tax abatement and possibly some extra footage allowance for agreeing to set aside the special category low-income housing.

The third mold is government subsidized purchase housing where those people with incomes under a set ceiling can qualify to purchase newly-constructed housing built specifically to enable low-income earners to be able to become homeowners.

A new type of innovative low-income housing has sprung up and although still in its infancy has been showing great results. A social service organization by the name of CASS community social services in Detroit decided to test out building micro houses on small lots to service certain categories of low-income earners that have the most difficulty in obtaining decent housing.

These micro homes no bigger than 250-400 square feet are being built individually on 30×100 ft lots on permanent foundations. At a cost of approximately $28,500 each to build, they offer high ceilings and large windows so the occupants feel as if the little houses are actually much bigger than they are, with front or rear porches, and space inside for a fully contained living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bath.

These homes will be offered to U.S. Veterans, seniors, college students, as well as others for rent with an option to buy if they are still living in the same home for seven years straight for approximately $1 per square foot which, for a 250-square foot home, equals to $250 per month, so even someone with an income of less than $10,000 per year could afford to live there.

In order to qualify, in addition to showing less than a certain income level, all candidates must also agree to a series of classes in home maintenance, finance, and healthy living. The organization also provides access to a professional care manager to help them with any issues that crop up while they live in these homes.

Obviously, by regular standards 250-400 square feet would equal the size of one large room in an apartment or house, so getting used to living in smaller accommodations would probably take a little getting used to, but if you would see how these little houses are set up inside, the design and creativity of the layout makes you feel as if you are living in a space nearly three times the size, not to mention the private backyard space and porch allow each resident not only their own privacy, but to live in a dignified manner no matter how restrained their monthly income is.

Although this type of building is not presently widespread, it offers much food for thought on the innovative ways housing can be provided for those with even the most minimal of incomes, such as minimum wage workers, even those without full-time employment. And although the housing is small in size, it provides those in the low-income brackets with the ability to actually own their own home.

Obviously, I do not see this type of housing being advantageous in a real urban environment, but there are areas of the country that do have large areas of land just sitting there, where putting these tiny homes on small lots might create a new advantage, especially to those homeless people because they cannot afford rentals on their present income. Someone had a great idea! 

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, management and commercial real estate in the 5 towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].