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 WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN in the market to buy or rent a home, people across the nation and income brackets are struggling to find affordable housing. There isn’t a simple or quick fix to solve the housing crisis but with the combined efforts of a comprehensive plan, “Plan Hamilton,” and organizations like Neighborhood Housing Services of Hamilton (NHS), making housing more accessible to the residents of Hamilton is possible.

To solve this problem, first we need to understand the cause. The rising cost of materials, supply chain issues, and labor shortages due to COVID have impacted housing inventory. We can’t blame the shortage entirely on COVID, the problem existed before COVID then those problems were exacerbated by the pandemic. Essentially, the United States has failed to keep up with the housing demands as the population continues to increase. To make matters worse, institutional investors continue to buy a large portion of inventory for profit. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimated these investors accounted for nearly 13 percent of residential real estate purchases in 2021.

How are organizations within Hamilton working to solve this problem? Neighborhood Housing Services of Hamilton has been working on providing safe, affordable, quality housing to Butler County residents for decades and therefore it is no surprise that they are an important part of the solution to the current housing challenges. The NHS is a blended partnership of residents, government, and community leaders that seeks to build healthier, stronger communities throughout Butler County. NHS’ current projects consist of developing one of the two vacant lots where Lincoln Elementary used to be. The organization is currently building 8 single family homes that will be sold to owner-occupants. NHS designed these homes with the surrounding community character in mind—the house design, materials used, and alley-accessed garages are consistent with the design of the surrounding blocks. NHS has income guidelines they follow when selling homes which creates affordable homeownership opportunities.

The City of Hamilton is looking for additional partners to further Plan Hamilton’s housing objectives. Liz Hayden, Director of Planning, explained, “The goal is to continue to see a variety of new housing opportunities built. For example, the City of Hamilton is actively looking for people interested in building homes on some of our city-owned lots.” Over the past 10 years, the City of Hamilton partnered with the

Butler County Land Bank to demolish vacant and blighted homes. Now, the City of Hamilton is looking for people to build new homes on some of these lots with a preference for homeownership. The first two houses that will be built on city-owned lots will be constructed by Neighborhood Housing Services. Hayden gave her thoughts on Hamilton’s future and current housing trends. “I think there is a demand to live in Hamilton’s traditional neighborhoods and new housing on vacant lots can help achieve many of our Plan Hamilton goals—increasing home ownership, promoting the creation of high-quality residential units, and promoting infill development.”

I have always been told that the direction of the housing market is hard to predict but with the efforts of local organizations and private developers, it seems that the housing market in Hamilton is designed with the community and residents in mind. The goals established by Plan Hamilton are focused on increasing available housing opportunities without sacrificing the community and culture that we love. For more details about what is on the horizon with Plan Hamilton, you can visit www.planhamilton.com For more information about Neighborhood Housing Services of Hamilton, visit www.butlercounty-nhs.org.