GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Housing Commission (GRHC) plans to issue surveys to 25,000 residences in Kent County in order to determine how much renters are paying each month.
GRHC says the survey, which is being conducted via a contract with Econometrica, will ascertain the county’s actual market rate.
“Only about 40 percent of the families who’ve received a rental subsidy through our Housing Choice Voucher program during the past year have been able to find an affordable rental unit within the time frame prescribed by the program,” says Lindsey S. Reames, executive director for the GRHC.
Reames says rent is considered affordable if it is under 30% of the home’s income, adding more than half of renting families in Grand Rapids spend more than 30% on rent and nearly a third pay at least half their earnings on rent alone, according to results from a 2020 housing needs assessment.
The collected data will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requesting that Kent County’s fair market rent be adjusted to reflect actual rates, according to GRHC.
“We hope that households receiving the FMR Survey will take a moment to respond in the interests of promoting housing equity and preventing homelessness,” Reames adds. “Completing the survey is a simple but important way to help some of the most vulnerable families in our community.”
