The quest for affordable housing in the Metro Detroit area has intensified, with community leaders and residents convening at The Commons for the Detroit Right to Counsel Law meeting to address the pressing challenges within the housing market.
Detroit Council Member Mary Waters, speaking outside the gathering, emphasized the critical shortage of genuine affordable housing. “We don’t have enough housing. True affordable housing. That’s the problem,” Waters asserted.
During the meeting, attendees shared personal accounts of housing struggles and deliberated on the factors contributing to the current housing crisis.
Mike Shane of the Moratorium Now Coalition highlighted the drastic surge in rental prices, citing instances where landlords have doubled rents from pre-COVID levels. “People are stuck in a rental market where there’s really not much out there, which means that landlords can charge an incredible amount of money,” Shane remarked.
The challenges in securing and maintaining affordable housing manifest disparately among individuals, with Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, an evictions study researcher, underscoring the disproportionate impact on Black women with children. “Black women who have children are more likely to be evicted from their homes than every other group in this country. And it’s not because we don’t pay rent,” Sealy-Jefferson emphasized.
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, a staunch advocate for housing issues, shed light on additional concerns within the housing market, including the unsuitability of some newly constructed units for families. “Some of the units that are being built are not conducive for families, people with children. So that’s an issue as well, too,” Sheffield observed. “So I would just say it’s too high. And then also, it is not enough.”
Waters commended the importance of public forums like the Detroit Right to Counsel Law meeting in facilitating discourse on housing problems and potential remedies. “If we get housing that’s income-based, then you won’t have so many evictions,” Waters proposed. “Right now, rent is just skyrocketing. People cannot afford that. Detroiters cannot afford that.”