Housing
Repairs and rehabilitation
The need for assistance with essential home repairs is more concentrated among older Texans who lack both adequate income and assets. According to HUD, almost 1.5 million elderly households lack basic elements of housing security, such as complete plumbing or a reliable source of heat. One-half million of these elderly households live in severely substandard dwellings that pose a threat to their safety and welfare. Roughly three-quarters of respondents to TDHCA's 2001 Community Needs Survey said there is a major or moderate need for assistance with repair and rehabilitation of existing renter- and owner-occupied housing.
Substandard housing conditions are exacerbated in colonias - unincorporated tracts of substandard housing in rural districts along the Texas-Mexico border region and East Texas. The Texas-Mexico border region has the largest number of colonias (1800) and the largest number of colonia residents (500,000). Water supplies in colonias are frequently polluted, sewage facilities inadequate, and roads poorly maintained. Homes built in these areas are often structurally unsound and lack adequate plumbing, electricity, and other basic features. Experts have concluded that the unsanitary living conditions in the colonias pose a public health threat to the entire population of the border counties.
Some older adults do not have the accessible home features they need to live safely and comfortably on their own. The housing needs of a small proportion of older adults who have physical impairments frequently parallel those of younger people with disabilities. Demand for accessibility improvements is likely to increase in the future as older, very frail persons become a larger share of the senior population. HUD's 1995 American Housing Survey found that about half of households that included a person over age 65 with a disability have the home modifications they need. Except for handrails and grab bars, home modifications appear in fewer than 10 percent of homes whose members report physical limitations. RACs agreed there is a shortage of low-income housing accessible to people with disabilities.
Various federal- and state-funded programs encourage the construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing - including accessibility improvements - and help low-income people pay their housing costs. These programs range from loans or grants to encourage affordable housing to funds for repair and replacement of inefficient heating and cooling systems.
The following state and federal agencies provide housing assistance and services:
- Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Housing Service
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- U.S. Treasury
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
In addition, local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) receive funds from HUD to own and operate public housing, and administer tenant-based rental vouchers.
Updated: November 2, 2007
