As the Town of Hamlet looks to attract housing development, town officials are learning about some of the challenges they’re likely to face. During this week’s town council meeting, Ron Gifford with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation discussed a report from Purdue University.
It analyzed housing needs in seven rural Indiana counties. “The findings included, in all seven counties, the housing stock was dominated by homes built prior to the 1980s,” Gifford explained. “I gave you those numbers last month, and that’s certainly true of Hamlet. Many rural communities are seeing an aging population. The whole population of Starke County is getting older, and there’s few options for them, as far as housing, other than staying where they are, in a house that maybe they outgrew several years before that, but they don’t have any other possibilities unless they move out of the area.”
He said the report looked at what’s keeping developers from financing housing in rural areas. “Developers and builders are concerned with recouping the return on their investment taking too long in rural areas,” Gifford said, “and banks are not excited about loaning money, either, to those builders or developers or people seeking new houses in rural areas.”
Gifford said the report also includes some strategies for communities to try, to help attract developers. It also explores the challenges of attracting a quality workforce when housing options are limited.
