The Community Benefits of Nonprofit Landlords
Nonprofit landlords operate with a different set of priorities and values and these differences have direct benefits to a community’s economy and its culture. One obvious low-hanging fruit is those who rent from nonprofit landlords typically experience housing certainty. These same renters often have long-term stability because they are steady workers and consistent participants in the local economy. Another fact about people who have housing certainty is they are healthier, including their mental health and this has a positive impact on the greater wellness of a community.
A nonprofit landlord’s priorities and goals aim to serve the housing needs of middle-and low-income residents of the communities where they own properties. Typically, rent does not exceed 30% of the renter’s income level and this ensures the renter does not become cost burdened by paying a larger percentage of their monthly/yearly income towards housing cost. The nonprofit landlord applies for and receives grants that help subsidize the difference required to meet property maintenance cost and debt reduction.
As stated above, a direct result of housing certainty is it contributes to a sustainable local economy, because renters also participate more in the local economy as a result of not being cost burdened by the high cost of rent. At a larger scale the diversity of economic contributions from a greater number of renters living in apartments owned by nonprofit landlord, stabilizes the town’s economy.
Let’s consider an unproven theory of long-term rental prices in a town where a nonprofit landlord owns a significant number of rentals available in that community. The Town’s overall rental market may serve the needs of a greater number of renter’s budgets because for-profit landlords would need to have more competitive rents. Also, for-profit landlords would still offer high priced rentals but less people would be displaced from their town due a lack of affordable rentals.
It would be interesting to test the data set of such a theory. However, the challenge would be to find a community where a nonprofit landlord operates a percentage of available rentals. What is the percentage of nonprofit landlord rentals that would tip towards a more balanced inventory of rentals for the community? Perhaps this percentage would not have to be as significant as one imagines prior to such a study.
We have evidence throughout our region and beyond that when the rental market is dominated with only one business model, for-profit property owners, the negative impact is pervasive in towns and cities. Today, a majority of renters don’t have housing certainty and are extremely cost burdened. These factors contribute to our towns and cities having imbalanced economies and a high degree of poor health and community wellness. Contrary to this, with an additional rental market business model, a nonprofit property owner and landlord, a town’s rent population lives with housing certainty and is less cost burdened that brings benefit both economically and an overall wellness and resiliency to the community. It’s time to give this additional business model in the rental market it far share.
