No – Not the ones that go on top your head. Though less fashionable, in this case we are referring to a Housing Assessment Tool (HAT). HAT acts as a self-assessment guide or housing resources for communities to gather and analyze data on their housing inventory, partner with relevant stakeholders, and develop priorities for local housing investment. Communities can use this tool to make data-driven decisions in addressing housing investment opportunities.
Housing is an economic development issue and learning what the current housing market demands are can improve a community’s overall economic potential. If a community effectively implements its housing objectives, it can simultaneously address economic development and housing growth through housing resources.
Assessing Needs
Why is assessing housing needs important?
Identifying gaps or needs is the first step in determining how, when, and where to address local housing issues. Most communities consider it advantageous when residents can remain there throughout their lives. This typically involves living in different types of housing as one progresses through the various life stages; a useful beginning point in defining housing needs is to reflect on how achievable that is in your own community.
Who does it and when?
Depending on the capacity and resources, many communities may choose to engage a consultant to assess their housing needs and establish a plan.Collecting and analyzing data on housing and creating a plan can be completed by the municipality’s planning or community development department.
But it is important for those working to address housing demand to have at least a basic understanding of the situation in their communities to be able to have meaningful discussions with those creating policy, and to be able to set reasonable goals that address the key issues.This process will give you a better understanding of the need for rental housing, affordable homeownership, senior housing, and special needs housing in your community.
It will also help you identify the need to address issues such as unaffordability, foreclosure, and seasonal housing. Even if you have a pre-existing Housing Assessment Tool completed, it is important to not stop there. We recommend that communities make sure that the tool stays updated – at least by 5 years. This is important for grants and other funding opportunities.
What is the outcome?
Understanding the needs of your community through research is only the beginning. This information should then be utilized to create an action plan of how your community can address the gaps
in housing.
Your local planning and/or community development department may collected the information and have a recent housing plan available. If your community has a current HAT, or Master Plan, the planning and/or community development staff will know. These sources may also have a wide range of additional current and historical information that could be beneficial for planning housing needs.
If you find that your community already has collected recent and relevant data on housing, you will find it more helpful to move on to the next steps in solving the housing issues in you community
If you would like to learn more about HAT tools, visit Kansas Commerce at https://www.kansascommerce.gov/housing/hat/.
Harley Schuster – Architecture Lead
