Springfield has more renters than homeowners. Here's what else the housing study found

The housing study that began a year ago has finally wrapped up. The study by the Atlanta-based firm hired by the city, APD Urban Planning + Management, reveals the lack of diverse housing options, aging homes and mismatch between income and affordability in the Springfield housing market and recommends strategies to improve the situation for a growing population.

The findings and an outline of next steps will be presented to the public Thursday evening 6-7:30 p.m. at the Ozarks Technical Community College Lincoln Hall.

The study drew demographic comparisons to Springfield's peer cities — Independence, the city of St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City.

"Within this decade, the city went from a homeownership-centric city to a renter-centric city," Steven Gonzales, senior analyst with APD, said. "We actually see that it currently sits at 42% of households are homeowners in the city of Springfield. And we see that it actually has one of the lowest homeownership rates compared to its peer cities."

Springfield also ranked the lowest among those peers in terms of median income and educated populace, with only 29% of residents having attained a bachelor's degree or higher. Springfield also had the highest poverty rates. All these factors put a strain on what residents can afford when looking for housing.

Affordability of housing

Affordable housing is considered housing on which households spend less than 30% of their income.

When it comes to the affordability of homes, the study shows that there is a surplus of affordable homes, yet these are often occupied by those whose income would allow them to afford a more expensive home. This is also the case for rental properties, though the report identifies a "massive" deficit in low-income rental housing, with almost 9,000 additional units needed to address the rental needs of lower-income populations.

Most residential areas in Springfield are restricted to single family, which means they often exclude other types of housing that could be developed.

"The current residential zoning is a major contributing factor to a lack of housing diversity, so a lack of housing types, and that's both for sale and for rent," said Deborah Jensen, APD senior planning and design manager.

The population of Springfield is projected to continue to grow. With this growth, the renter population will also grow at a rate faster than the population of homeowners if these deficits are not addressed.

Concerns and public feedback

While the lack of choice in housing and the mismatch between affordability and income levels are issues in the city's housing, when it comes to neighborhoods, missing sidewalks, green spaces and lights as well as a concentration of older housing and vacant lots in northwest Springfield must be addressed to improve the overall quality of place.

The study found that rental properties owned by investor owners were largely concentrated in certain older neighborhoods, including West Central, Robberson and downtown. The study mainly examined investor owners that owned 20 or more properties or were owned by LLCs or LPs.

A majority of these properties were found to be in fair or good condition, though this was only based on exterior appearances. In the West Central neighborhood, 11.1% of the residential properties were owned by investor owners that own 20 properties or more and 42.3% of residential properties were owned by LLC or LP investor owners. For both categories, under 10% of the properties were rated in poor condition by the consultants. Gonzales said this is considered the "tipping point" — housing conditions in those areas could get worse if not addressed but could also improve with maintenance and updates.

And while the percentage of homes in poor condition was low, it still amounts to a significant number of rental properties — 588 — owned by LLCs or LPs that were in poor or worse condition.

According to the 2022 Regional Health Assessment by the Ozarks Health Commission, 28% of Springfield residents live in substandard housing. With almost half of Springfield's homes built between 1950 and 1970, maintenance becomes increasingly important but also expensive.

Short-term rentals that have become an increasing concern for regulations for city and neighbors alike were not a part of the study.

More: Springfield's short-term rental policy has issues. Here's how it stacks up to others in MO

Results from public engagement surveys conducted throughout the period of the survey reveal Springfield residents want to see new housing types, improvements and expansion in housing affordability as well as down-payment assistance. Almost half of the respondents supported commercial developments in neighborhoods.

The most widely supported initiative noted by respondents, however, was increased regulation of rental properties.

Strategies to consider

A more sustained, focused code enforcement program and adopting and funding rental regulation were on the list of the strategies proposed by APD to address housing issues.

The group presented a program in Kansas City, known as Healthy Homes, as a case study for one way rental regulation could work. Through the program, rental units are registered and the city's health department conducts rental inspections annually for $20 per unit. Jensen said that despite the low fee, the city still sees excess funds come in that can then be used to relocate those living in units found unsafe and to fund lead abatement programs.

More: City Council sets deadline for staff to gather data, develop plan for nuisance properties

Other recommendations to address housing and neighborhood issues include zoning adjustments to allow for new, diverse types of housing, affordable housing preservation, connectivity and aesthetics improvements, expanded rehabilitation of vacant properties and development of publicly-owned and workforce housing. Some of the recommendations already exist in the city, like Restore SGF, and could use expansion or improvement, while others would be brand new.

The study cost the city $256,000. Information on past community meetings can be found on the city's website. A final report of the findings will be presented to City Council, though it acts as a pulse check on the current housing landscape in the city and actual implementation of any recommended strategies will likely be lengthy and come in multiple phases.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Here's what Springfield housing study found about rental properties