Detroiters who face rising rents, poor living conditions and systemic barriers to affordable and safe housing are at , our research finds.
Authors
Roshanak Mehdipanah
Associate Professor in Public Health, University of Michigan
Kate Brantley
Research Area Specialist, University of Michigan
Melika Belhaj
Research Associate, University of Michigan
We , with the goal of informing local, state and national policy. Our focus is on how interdisciplinary research on housing relates to equity in health, race, income and aging.
Housing instability can take many forms, including living in overcrowded or inadequate conditions, having to make frequent moves or spending the bulk of household income on a place to live. These stressors can lead to , and even .
Half of Detroit’s residents are renters who earn a median household income of $26,704, nearly $13,000 lower than Michigan’s median, according to .
We also found that 60% of renters in Detroit are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing-related costs, including rent and utilities.
A legacy of discriminatory housing practices
These issues didn’t develop overnight. Detroit’s current racial housing inequities are influenced by . Redlining refers to the federally sponsored practice of banks and insurers refusing or limiting loans, mortgages and insurance within Black neighborhoods.
The effects were long term. As recently as 2019, formerly redlined areas had almost 30% lower homeownership rates and a $60,000 difference in median household income compared with mostly white areas that were provided with better opportunities beginning nearly a century ago.
Beyond the financial effects, research also shows that the practice of redlining in Detroit is associated with , and among current residents of these areas.
Tax foreclosure leads to poor health outcomes
Discriminatory housing practices continue today, often taking the form of foreclosures and evictions.
In the past two decades, Detroit has experienced one of the in the country.
At the height of the foreclosure crisis in 2015, approximately , displacing those Detroiters and putting them at a higher risk of .
This has led to more , who tend to and to allow their properties to fall into disrepair.
Eviction, poor housing quality and health
Detroit saw about 30,000 eviction filings annually before the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a few years of respite due to pandemic-era housing policies, evictions have climbed back toward prepandemic levels. In , more than 20,000 Detroiters had evictions filed against them.
Research connects eviction to a range of poor .
Even the Detroiters not at risk of eviction often pay for poor-quality housing despite attempts by the city to requiring landlords to register and obtain a certification of compliance with Detroit’s rental ordinance.
shows that 9 in 10 pandemic-era eviction filings involved properties not in compliance with local health and safety codes, including those that regulate . At the same time, much of the housing stock continues to decline as it ages and compliance efforts are .
Some who are evicted have nowhere to go. In January 2023, Detroiters were experiencing homelessness, increasing their risk of .
Policies that have worked
There is some good news. Tax foreclosures in Detroit have decreased significantly from the height of the tax foreclosure crisis.
We partly attributed this to the pandemic-era moratorium on tax foreclosures initiated by the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office, which ended in 2023. The county also oversees the and programs such as and the , which have helped for homeowners.
Programs such as have exempted some low-income homeowners from paying property taxes in an effort to prevent tax delinquency.
However, shows that despite efforts to raise awareness about these programs, few qualifying households access them. This places them at risk for foreclosure and possible displacement.
New policy directions
Detroiters’ resilience and persistent advocacy have led to significant wins for housing justice, helping to translate community concerns into city policy.
In 2022, residents successfully organized for the for qualifying low-income Detroiters facing eviction.
The city could also follow the lead of other U.S. cities such as Philadelphia by exploring and mediation models to reduce eviction filings.
More targeted efforts are also needed to to ensure stability and encourage long-term residence.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
