From our annual State of Housing reports and our ongoing surveys of Houstonians, we have extensively documented the affordability challenges facing the region. About half of Houston-area residents say they worry about being able to pay for their mortgage or rent, and more than half of area renters are housing cost-burdened. In fact, a quarter of renters spend more than half of their monthly earnings on housing costs alone.
Housing quality matters. Numerous research studies from different cities and parts of the country have repeatedly shown that living in housing that is deteriorating or falling apart is associated with negative health outcomes and injury risk. For example, a study of over 50,000 households around the country found that people who lived in homes with holes in the walls or ceiling, or who had problems with pests or insects, or had issues with their plumbing not working were more likely to be hospitalized for a health condition. These same people were also at a higher risk of needing more doctors’ visits.
A big reason why so little is known about housing quality is that there are very few readily available sources of information. One, the Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD), assigns a rating of the quality of structures in its district. This offers important insights, but is only based on front-facing physical condition. The rating does not take into consideration the condition of the interior, the foundation, or the electrical or plumbing systems of a property.
Other sources of information include code violations or citations that housing units might receive, but these are relatively few and always reactive in nature (i.e., they require someone to raise a concern for an inspection and investigation to occur and are rarely the results of proactive steps taken to provide oversight to the quality and conditions of people’s housing).
Even with such limited data sources, there is evidence to suggest the housing quality needs of Houston-area residents are extensive. Most notably, in the 2023 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report, it was estimated that of about 333,000 rental structures rated by HCAD that year, more than 60,000 (or about 1 in 5) were graded as “below average” based on the exterior condition.
If 1 in 5 renters lives in below-average-quality housing and half of renters are housing cost-burdened, then there could be around 100,000 renters spending more than 30% of their earnings to live in dilapidated dwellings. This rough estimate could be just the tip of the iceberg.
This is why we need to hear from as many Houston-area residents as possible. The Housing Quality Registry is an essential step toward fully documenting, detailing and describing the challenges facing residents in our area.
The Housing Quality Registry is a short, 5- to 10-minute survey that was designed with community organizations who are working with residents to tackle the issue of housing quality in and around the region, including Rebuilding Together Houston, Project Row Houses and the Houston Housing Collaborative.
Regardless of where you live, how long you’ve lived there or how much you earn, we want to hear from you and we can learn from you.
If you are interested in participating, please visit this webpage to learn more about the study. The survey will be open from Jan. 15 to Feb. 28. Any resident who completes the survey and provides an email address will be entered to win 1 of 1,000 electronic gift cards. Each gift card will be worth $15 — not a large sum of money, but a token of our appreciation for people sharing their experiences with us.
By better understanding the current housing quality challenges facing the Houston area, it will be possible to put into place programs aimed at improving the conditions of so many of our neighbors, helping them lead healthier lives and helping us all have better communities to call home.