1. OUR GOAL
Improve the health of Philadelphians and preserve critical affordable housing by using innovative strategies to improve conditions in thousands of rowhouses each year.

2. What is Healthy Rowhouse Project?
The Healthy Rowhouse Project is by the Oak and Barra Foundations. We seek to:
Serve as catalyst for innovations in home repair for low- and moderate-income households
Research best practices and analyze home repair need
Work with City and non- and for-profit partners to design loan and grant models as well as sustainable funding and implementation strategies that work at scale

3. Working in Partnership: Council President Clarke’s Housing Preservation Working Group
Energy Coordinating Agency Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia HAPCO LISC Philadelphia Philadelphia Association of CDC’s Philadelphia Corporation for Aging Philadelphia Energy Authority Rebuilding Together Philadelphia

4. Four Starting Assumptions For Research
Renters Are More Likely To Live In Substandard Conditions
Low Income Households At <150% Of Poverty Had Vast Majority of Home Repair Needs
Difficult To Work At Scale Because Majority Of Houses Will Need >$50,000 In Repairs
Philadelphians Do Not Seek To Take Out Home Repair Loans

5. Who needs home RepairS?

6. Homeowners Have More Home Repair Needs Than Renters
All Owner Occupied Homes
All Renter Occupied Homes
Owners
Renters
Owners
Renters
Formula: 148,400 (homeowners with repair needs)
+ 221,900 (homeowners without repair needs)
= 370,300 (all homeowners)
111,500 (renters with repair needs)
+ 194,000 (renters without repair needs)
= 305,500
NOTE: excludes 94,000 households that did not report tenure (64,400 without repairs + 29,700 with repairs)
American Housing Survey, 2013
Have Health Repair Needs
No Health Repair Needs

7. 44% of Philadelphia Homes with Health-Related Home Repair Needs Include Children or Seniors
Formula:
160,900 (homes with repair needs but now seniors or children)
+ 81,800 (homes with repair needs with children)
+ 43,600 (homes with repair needs with seniors)
+ 3,300 (homes with repair needs with seniors or children)
= 289,600
American Housing Survey, 2013

8. For Vulnerable Populations, Housing is a Critical Health Concern
Seniors
Children
27% of Philadelphia seniors live in a home with damage to the roof, plumbing, or heating
Seniors in homes with health related home repair needs are:
116% more likely to have a chronic condition
138% more likely to visit the ER
178% more likely to have fallen
39% of asthma diagnoses in children are attributable to residential risk factors
Children with asthma have:
16% more school absences per year
40% more ER visits than adults with asthma
Nationally Childhood asthma leads to:
14.4 million days of missed school
1.8 million emergency room visits
St. Christopher's Pilot with the City - $3500 investment reduced asthma hospitalizations by 70% and missed school days by 53%
School days:
ED Visits: (pg. 15)
PHMC, 2013; Bruce Lanphear et al. (2001); ACS , 2014

9. Philadelphians of All Incomes Need Health-Related Home Repairs
Household Income Among Homes with Health Repair Needs and Homes Without Health Repair Needs
Philadelphians of All Incomes Need Health-Related Home Repairs
Homes with Health Repair Needs
Very Low Income Under $24,300
Low Income $24,300- $36,450
Moderate Income $36,450- $85,000
High Income Above $85,000
Notes:
This slide shows the income breakdown of homes with at least one type of damage
As we saw 53% of these households earn less than $34k a year, but that’s actually pretty close to the share of all Philadelphians who earn less than $48k
Households living in homes with health hazards are over represented in this middle income bracket (those earning $34k to $75k) and they’re underrepresented among the highest income households. Twelve percent of households with health hazards earn over $75k a year, but 23% of all Philadelphia households earn over $75k a year
American Housing Survey, 2013

10. WHAT home Repairs DO THEY NEED?

11. Leaks are the Most Common Health-Related Home Repair Need in Philadelphia
The most common source of leaks is the Roof (61%)
Observations:
49% of heating issues are from Equipment Failure vs only 10% from cost of heating
Note:
This slide shows the number of Philadelphia homes with each issue.
The most common type of home repair need in Philadelphia is a water leak and the most common source of a home leak in Philadelphia is the roof
Inadequate heating is a top issue as well. Interestingly, 49% of cases where homes had a heating issue the cause was equipment failure. Only about 10% of cases were caused by cost of heating. So this is a solvable challenge.
All of these issues are more common in single family homes and the vast majority of those are rowhomes
Most issues are more common among homeowners not renters.
Source: American Housing Survey, 2013

12. What will it cost to fix Health- Related Home Repair needs?

13. 54% of Rowhouses Needing Health-Related Home Repairs can be Addressed for ~$10,000
Minor repairs
Moderate repairs
Substantial renovations
DIY repairs
Formula: <1,000 (homeowners with repair needs and cosmetic repairs)
+ 88,400 (homeowners with repair needs and minor repairs)
+ 38,100 (homeowners with repair needs and moderate repairs)
+ 21,300 (homeowners with repair needs and substantial repairs)
= 148,400 (homeowners with repair needs)
<100 (renters with repair needs and cosmetic repairs)
+ 68,500 (renters with repair needs and minor repairs)
+ 13,300 (renters with repair needs and moderate repairs)
+ 29,600 (renters with repair needs and substantial repairs)
= 111,400 (renters with repair needs)
Notes:
We say over 200,000 Philadelphians are diagnosed because we don’t know what the overlap in asthma/COPD/falls/etc are.
We don’t have access to ER records, but obviously these are critical to track. If anyone in the audience can help us find these, please let me know!
Approximately 30k people are hospitalized for these conditions every year and we estimate about 7k of those cases were caused directly by their home: an asthma/COPD attack exacerbated by indoor irritants; falls within the home; etc
NOTE: Excludes 29,700 households that did not disclose their tenure

14. How will Bond Proceeds help to eliminate the grant program backlog?

15. Households on wait list:
Philadelphia's Basic Systems Repair Program Needs More Funding
Households on wait list: 
8,000
Maximum repair cost:
$17,500
Eligibility:
Up to 150% of poverty or $36,450
for a family of four
Length of wait:
Up to 4 years

16. HOW WILL BOND proceeds help To create a loan program and How Will It Work?

17. 24,000 Philadelphia Homeowners Sought Home Repair Loans and 62% Were Denied (2012-2014)
Home Purchase
Housing Refinance
Home Repair
Total Number of Mortgage Applications and Share of Applications Denied by the Financial Institution, 2012 to 2014
Philadelphia Applications:
55,300
100,000
24,197
Philadelphia Denial Rate:
11%
24%
62%
National Denial Rate:
13%
17%
37%
Notes:
This is data on mortgage applications in philadelphia
If you apply for a mortgage to purchase a home, there’s an 11% denial rate; but for home repair mortgages the denial rate is 62%.
Nationally 37% of all repair mortgages are denied, but it’s 62% in Philadelphia.
Many of those approved were offered high cost loans with an interest rate 3% or more above prime rate
Source: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Filings, 2012 to 2014

18. Most Philadelphians Seeking Home Repair Loans apply for Loans under $20,000
Loan Amount
Under $10,000
$10k to $20,000
Over $20,000
Applications
11,867
3,308
9,022
Percentage Denied
Average income
76%
$38,000
58%
$58,000
45%
$68,000
Percentage Originated Average Income
20%
$46,000
32%
$73,000
41%
$89,000
Notes:
Among those who are applying for a repair mortgage, most aren’t asking for a lot of money. Less than $10,000 in most cases
Interestingly the more money you ask for, the more likely you are to have your loan approved, but of course denial rates also track with income.
So lower income households are asking for less money, but getting denied more; higher income households are asking for more money, and getting denied less often.
Source: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Filings, 2012 to 2014

19. City Loan Guarantee Fund Reduces Lender Risk and Increases Number of Eligible Borrowers
APPLICATION ✖
Loan risk is too high
LENDER + =
LOAN
APPLICATION ✔
City Fund reduces loan risk
$300 million worth of loans in 15 years

20. 109,000 Homes with Minor or Moderate Need
Home Repair By the Numbers: Owner Occupied Homes
109,000 Homes with Minor or Moderate Need
88,000 Need Minor Repairs (~$10,000)
21,000 Need Moderate Repairs (~$34,000)
45,000 Households Grant Eligible (<150% poverty)
34,000 Households Potentially Need Help Obtaining a Loan (< $85,000)