A publication of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission (LFUCHRC), the State of Fair and Affordable Housing Report for Lexington-Fayette Urban County, Kentucky examines local housing conditions in Lexington-Fayette Urban County with a particular focus on housing fairness, choice, and affordability. LFUCHRC released this much needed in-depth look at fair and housing as a tool for both public and private sectors. LFUCHRC seeks to focus efforts to improve fair housing choices in Lexington and to strengthen the link between fair housing and affordable housing. Lexington, along with the rest of the state and country, has seen many demographic changes and gathered the information for easy access.
Metropolitan Housing Coalition and the University of Louisville Center for Environmental Policy and Management did the research and writing of this report. The report was produced in partnership with the Lexington Fair Housing Council and was funded by a grant from United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Ray Sexton, the Executive Director of the LFUCHRC stated that “my hope is that this report is a self-reflection of Lexington to show that although we have made strides, more work needs to be done. This report will be an important tool to overcome the impediments that it highlights.”
The report’s findings include:
- The Hispanic population, which reported as 7 percent of the population, is very concentrated. There are several block groups where the Hispanic population is over 20 percent and several more block groups where the population is over 10 percent. The number of block groups where these concentrations have happened has increased between 2000 and 2010.
- There has been substantial growth in the number of persons who are non-native English speakers, with an increase of 186 percent between 2005 and 2012.
- The number of block groups where African Americans are over 50 percent increased between 2000 and 2010. While African Americans are about 15 percent of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County population, there are substantial areas where African Americans are 0 to 5 percent of the population.
- Of those households that rent, a renter household with the annual median income of all renter households ($24,913) would allocate 35 percent of their total income to rent alone at Fair Market Rent ($725). Any percentage of income spent on housing that exceeds 30 percent is considered severely cost-burdened.
- A disproportionately high number of owner-occupied homes are owned by white homeowners: 87 percent of homeowners in Lexington-Fayette Urban County are white, while they comprise only 78 percent of the county’s population.
- Subsidized housing is concentrated in only a few council districts: 83 percent of public housing units are in three districts (1, 2, and 8), and 70 percent of project-based Section 8 units are located in three districts (4, 8, and 11).
Follow this link to download a copy of the State of Fair and Affordable Housing Report for Lexington-Fayette Urban County, Kentucky.
