Oskaloosa Housing Needs Study
Oskaloosa City Hall
Oskaloosa, Iowa – During an Oskaloosa Housing Trust Fund board work session this week, the board talked about how to improve the quality and appearance of homes and apartments in town.
The city of Oskaloosa commissioned a housing study that showed that of the over 4000 single family homes in Oskaloosa, the Mahaska County Assessor categorizes more than 20 percent as in below normal condition or lower.
And while old houses aren’t always in bad shape, it can be a contributing factor.
The average age of Oskaloosa’s houses is above the state average and well above neighboring communities like Pella. Roughly half (50.9%) of the houses in Oskaloosa were built before 1959 compared to about forty six percent (45.7%) statewide and twenty nine percent (29.4%) in Pella.
The board has decided to look into a number of ideas to improve the quality, affordability and appearance of housing in Oskaloosa including:
Acquiring dilapidated houses to demolish or rehabilitate, improving the quality of rental housing, perhaps through a rental inspection program, encouraging developers to build new housing, and acting as an information clearinghouse for financial assistance options for both potential homebuyers and renters.
The Housing Needs committee will share these ideas with the full Oskaloosa Housing Trust Fund board during its regular meeting next Thursday at noon. Tune in next week when CRI talks to local realtors about the perceptions of Oskaloosa’s housing stock.
