The City of Des Moines is working on policies to make affordable housing available to all. | Stock Photo
The City of Des Moines is working on policies to make affordable housing available to all. | Stock Photo
Affordable housing in Des Moines is still difficult for many minorities to obtain, officials say.
According to officials, past practice dictated who could and couldn't get housing loans.
Kendyl Larson, the director of Research and Planning at the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, said the "racist policies" are from past policies. Due to the policies, not everyone can get a loan for a home.
“That’s a big racist housing policy from our past, from a federal level. And I mean the impact that it’s had on our communities of color are significant and you can see the legacy of those impacts today,” Larson told Iowa Public Radio.
Julie Winter, the planning director for Region 6 Resource Partners, also had a comment to offer the conversation.
"These are very bad situations that put these contract buyers in a very unique position that they're vulnerable," Winter said. "And it pretty much exists because there's a lack of financing availability, a lack of access to financing. And that is a policy that could definitely be looked at."
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