Houston Mayor Bill White threw in the towel this week, ending his modest effort to provide rudimentary consumer protections to Houston homeowners who must hire contractors to repair their homes damaged by Hurricane Ike. White proposed an ordnance that would have required all contractors doing work in Houston to register with the city. The proposal [...]
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Tag Archives: Substandard housing
Revitalizing nuisance properties to be explored at Dallas meeting
September 11, 2008
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I have discussed the problem of getting cities to take action on abandoned and derelict properties in low income neighborhoods. Senator Royce West’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee is working on an initiative to address this problem. It is thus timely that a conference of the topic is coming up September 20 in Dallas. Revitalizing Nuisance Properties [...]
Read moreFocusing on the big picture of housing assistance
August 4, 2008
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Let’s take a step back and focus on the big picture of housing assistance using this chart I have prepared based on data in a recent HUD research report. Since it is 107 degrees outside today I decided to stay in and read the latest HUD report and chart some of the data to get [...]
Read moreWhen cities do not act, let’s give communities the power to take over abandoned properties
August 3, 2008
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The problem posed by abandoned, derelict housing where cities have failed to follow through on code violations extends beyond multifamily housing to include single family homes. The Texas Legislature needs to act to give community organizations the power to clean up neighborhoods when cities fail to act. Back on July 30 I blogged about a [...]
Read moreIt is too late for two children but now is the time for Houston to act on slum apartments
July 18, 2008
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It happened again last night. More kids were hurt, this time killed, in the slum apartments the city of Houston tolerates in the Southwest section of the city. It should not have happened. The City of Houston has long known about the deplorable living conditions in this area. The Houston Chronicle has splashed it over [...]
Read moreThe voice of consumers is missing in judging subsidized housing
July 6, 2008
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Low income tenants are seldom consulted about the quality of housing that the government builds for them. I have long thought this to be a serious flaw in affordable housing. Without the active involvement of consumers how can we expect the housing to be designed to meet their needs? Without asking the tenants, how can [...]
Read moreCurbing substandard housing in rural Texas
June 20, 2008
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Watch John Henneberger’s testimony before the Texas Seante International Relations and Trade Committee on substandard rural housing. Read my written testimony presented to the committee. On June 17 I presented invited testimony before the Texas Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade on the committee interim charge: Review state and local policies relating to development [...]
Read moreDisgraceful indifference to substandard conditions in Houston
June 17, 2008
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In an outstanding piece of investigative journalism Houston Chronicle staff writers Matt Stiles, Mike Snyder and Julio Cortez have exposed the astounding indifference of the City of Houston and the city’s political leadership toward substandard apartments in the city. To read this story headlined “Operators of squalid apartments ignore the law to prey on the [...]
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Bo McCarver’s housing news clips for May
- Mitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
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Bo’s housing news clips: Study finds zoning segregates lower-income students in lower-scoring schools.
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Texas LIHTC housing program rocked by second earthquake in two months
- Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
