Web-based locator will help in finding affordable rentals
People seeking affordable rentals can sometimes get bounced from agency to agency.
Every week social service agencies receive their phone calls, and every week these agencies pass callers back and forth.
“We’re a member of nonprofit housing providers, and people call my office and I know I’ll give them four or five members’ names, not really knowing if they have anything available that day,” said Cindy Algeo, director of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium. “The Spokane HUD office gets 80 to 100 of these calls each week,”
A new program, One Stop Housing, will help alleviate this problem. The housing consortium will purchase a Web-based housing locator program, and it hopes to have it operating by spring.
The program will offer an efficient way to connect people with housing they can afford.
The Web site will be similar to www.housingconnections.org (Portland) and www.WIfrontdoorhousing.org (Wisconsin).
Agencies and landlords in Spokane County will be encouraged to list their available properties on the Web site, which will be administered by the consotrium and staffed with a new housing locator coordinator. The service will be free to landlords and those looking for housing.
Computers will be stationed at community agencies for those looking for rental properties.
It is expected that One Stop Housing will mean that units will lease more quickly and that the vacancy rate will decrease. Landlords who use a similar Web-based program in other cities report that inquiries about their listed units have “gone through the roof.”
The listings contain photos and a lot of details about properties, helping potential renters find a “good fit.” This could reduce the frequency of tenant turnover.
Algeo said that the majority of people who call are not of extremely low income, but are the working poor, who need housing with rents lower than market rate.
The consortium’s goal is to get sufficient funding to support the program for a three-year period. If an AmeriCorp volunteer fills the coordinator position, the cost of the product and staffing will be about $57,000.
SLIHC has secured a commitment of funding from Kiemle & Hagood and Northeast Washington Housing Solutions (Spokane Housing Authority) and has submitted grant applications to Spokane County and the city of Spokane.
The county has indicated that interest income or administrative fees from its Housing Trust Fund program may be available to support this program.