Supporting low-income homeowners: lessons from a program to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation services

William M. Rohe, Spencer M. Cowan and Roberto Quercia

Housing Policy Debate, 2010, vol. 20, issue 3, 523-546

Abstract: Homeownership is the primary way most families build wealth in this country. Low-income homeowners are less likely to get that benefit because they are more likely to own older houses that are more costly to operate and need more essential maintenance. Rapidly escalating home energy costs are straining the budgets of many low-income homeowners, increasing the likelihood of under maintenance and mortgage default. This paper presents an evaluation of a demonstration program designed to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation programs in order to assist low-income households, decrease energy costs, and to improve the condition and value of their homes. The experience of 11 local non-profit organizations, funded to develop programs to coordinate weatherization and housing rehabilitation services, were studied over a five-year period. The results of the evaluation indicate that there are many obstacles to coordinating weatherization and rehabilitation programs, but that it can be accomplished under the right conditions. Major gaps exist between program eligibility thresholds and in the types of assistance available to low-income homeowners. Policy recommendations for facilitating coordination are presented.

Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10511481003788687 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:houspd:v:20:y:2010:i:3:p:523-546

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RHPD20

DOI: 10.1080/10511481003788687

Access Statistics for this article

Housing Policy Debate is currently edited by Tom Sanchez, Susanne Viscarra and Derek Hyra

More articles in Housing Policy Debate from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().