How Harris County is Expanding Access to Affordable Housing

Hinzugefügt: 2026-04-29

[00:00:02]I'm County Administrator Erica Lee Carter and today I'm joined by Tal Costas, executive director of housing and community development. We'll be talking about the challenges we're facing, the progress we're making, and how partnerships across our region are helping us build stronger, more resilient communities. Tal, thank you for being here. Tell us what is the unique role of housing and community development in Harris County? Well, thank you for having me here today. And yes, so our department, our unique role is that we are the recipient of federal funds, specifically Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as actually federal transit authority dollars to provide transit services to the unincorporated areas of Harris County. So, these dollars allow us to invest in the community so that we can thrive at all levels.

[00:00:57]What are HD's big goals, strategic initiatives, and what challenges are you and your great team trying to address?

[00:01:04]>> Well, you mentioned in your intro of this conversation, the the biggest challenge that we face in Houston and Harris County, even though people think that we are affordable, unfortunately today, it is not as affordable as most of our workers. We are challenged by homelessness still and a high high rate of evictions.

[00:01:32]And then we have home ownership and and everything in between. People who need their homes to be kept up and people who can afford to keep their homes rented.

[00:01:43]>> And with those challenges, what is fair housing and what does HD do to address it? Yeah. So, fair housing this month is actually acknowledging a a landmark law that occurred in 1968 and it is to help people not be discriminated against because of their age, their gender, their race, their family makeup.

[00:02:07]Unfortunately, that is still something that occurs today. So fair housing, what we do here at Harris County is to help people access HUD and those departments that can help advocate for them, fight for them, and then also we our county leaders have in installed policies for tenant protection. So keeping people housed in and allowing them to be able to own homes, all of this in an equitable way.

[00:02:40]How do you go about working uh whether it's with court or other departments of achieving uh some of the goals you just mentioned?

[00:02:48]>> Yes. So Harris County is a big complex machine and we cannot do though the work that we are trying to do on our own. So, our housing department is partnering with, of course, court, court staff, the judges staff, our housing policy partners, our leaders who say yes or no to the initiatives that we take on. They we're working with our state legislators and and other county departments including engineering, uh, our intergovernmental offices, public health, and so on. And then there's also our counterparts at the city >> um city housing department and in the mayor's office as well as developers. We have private sector developers, nonprofit developers, and advocates who are all working towards trying to create more affordable housing and ensure that people are able to access it.

[00:03:46]>> And I love that you have nonprofit, private, public stakeholders engaged. Uh I think it takes a village of support uh to achieve your goals. Um how does Harris County compare to other local, state or national communities as it relates to housing affordability and the stability that we have here?

[00:04:05]>> Yeah. So as I mentioned briefly that while we seem to be affordable, that was actually about 10 years ago >> when the affordability consideration was here for us. people were able to reach um home ownership with the level of income that that our community afforded.

[00:04:27]Today it is much further out of reach.

[00:04:31]It takes much more money and of course interest rates are higher for the rental market for families that make $50,000 or less which in our community we have many many uh workingclass families that are in that range.

[00:04:49]Back 10 years ago, there were 113 rental homes for every hundred households. So, the availability was there. But today, only 84 rental units are available for people who make $50,000 or less for everyund households. And so, we lack the supply, >> which means that people are having to pay much more >> for their housing costs. Mhm. And that puts pressure on other things, food, health care, education.

[00:05:19]>> Absolutely. And and again, you had mentioned early on about the foundation.

[00:05:24]>> You know, having a stable home is something that most of us who are able to be in a stable home take for granted.

[00:05:32]And when you are working paycheck to paycheck, when you are struggling with the cost of child care, which any of us would be struggling with that cost, health care and food, the price of food these days is further and further out of reach. So all of these things together is is a constant balance for our working families. So given that uh we still want to find the silver lining and so what are you most proud of uh for HCD and what our county has done?

[00:06:03]>> Well, I came from 30 years of working in the homeless field and so I was so grateful to be able to come here >> local government where resources and tools can be put in place and they are and have been put in place >> to make amazing change happen.

[00:06:25]with our court leaders, the American Rescue Plan Act, disaster recovery funds through Hurricane Harvey and now Barrel, they are being deployed to create more affordable housing, rental housing, home ownership, and home repairs. All of these things that help our entire community so that we don't have to tackle homelessness. and we're on a great trajectory and I know that we can do more.

[00:06:56]>> Well, thank you Director Kasus for telling us uh what we've done so much to invest in housing infrastructure. I know we both would like to thank Judge Halago, Commissioner Ellis, Commissioner Garcia, Commissioner Ramsey, and Commissioner Briones uh for their uh commitment uh investment into housing uh throughout Harris County. Housing is one of the most important issues facing our community and it's one that requires all of us working together. I'm proud of the progress we've made here in Harris County, but we know that there is still more to do. By continuing to invest in smart solutions, strong partnerships, and equitable opportunities, we can ensure that every resident has a place to call home. Uh again, Tal, thank you for sharing your insights uh to your great team that I know is so committed to this work every day. Uh we encourage all of you watching to stay informed and involved and get involved and be part of building a stronger Harris County for everyone.