{"id":229095,"date":"2026-07-30T11:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/229095\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T11:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:08:11","slug":"county-commissioners-told-housing-crisis-continues-in-the-lebanon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/229095\/","title":{"rendered":"County commissioners told housing crisis continues in the Lebanon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of\u00a0our Civic Impact Reporting Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lebanon County Commissioners received Wednesday a six-month progress report on the work of the Lebanon County Housing Collaborative, including confirmation of the ongoing housing crisis at all levels of affordability.<\/p>\n

Created in June 2025 as reported by LebTown in an exclusive story, the work of the collaborative began in earnest with the hiring of its director, Caitlin Lockard, earlier this year. The collaborative was created following the findings of a 2023 housing study commissioned by the Lebanon County Commissioners that detailed the crisis that existed then and continues today. <\/p>\n

Lockard gave the report and asked the commissioners for their continuing support. Her report to the commissioners came two days after she met with Lebanon City Council on Monday, July 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach partner holds a portion of the answer, but none of them hold all of the answers in one building or organization,\u201d Lockard said, noting that over 150 information-gathering sessions have been held over the past six months since she started her new job. \u201cSo Lebanon County Housing Collaborative gives those partners a central place to connect. And then we want to help share information, find resources, and decide what will happen next.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the collaborative\u2019s goal to analyze the whole housing system in Lebanon County and to work with partners to find solutions to housing concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re studying patterns and we are explaining policy. And we\u2019re trying to gather public input so that leaders can see where needs overlap and what the focus should be based on citizens\u2019 input,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cAt the project level, we\u2019re helping people find a partner or a funding source. We may help them find facts or create next steps for a project that they have ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some alarming statistics that Lockard shared with the commissioners.<\/p>\n

99.6% of the rental market in Lebanon County is currently occupied, Lockard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenters have very few choices if they should choose to move, if they need to move, or if they\u2019re in substandard housing, which I will talk about in a moment,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cSecond, only 0.3% of the county\u2019s for sale homes are available. A healthy market has between 2 and 3%. This very low supply makes it harder to move, and it also makes it hard to buy a first-time home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockard noted those statistics haven\u2019t changed since the Housing Needs Assessment study was released in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cClose to 13,000 households spend more than 30% of their income on housing. This is what we call cost-burdened households. And that\u2019s where housing costs are so high that it leaves less room for other needs, such as food, medicine, travel, health care, child care, or emergencies,\u201d Lockard said.<\/p>\n

The last statistic she shared noted about 1,600 Lebanon County households are living in substandard conditions. She said substandard households are ones that have a substantial issue like overcrowding, contain a faulty kitchen or bathroom that does not work, leaks gas, or contains lead paint. She noted the condition makes the residence nearly uninhabitable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lockard also told the commissioners that a housing forum was held in April and revealed some wishes of the 21 individuals who filled out a survey at the event.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople showed a strong interest in neighborhood renewal and reuse of vacant homes, great news for the Housing and Redevelopment Authorities,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cThey also want to see real projects that have worked in the past in other places.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added the feedback is being turned into what\u2019s being called Community Voice Processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will carry public input into future forums, plans, and policy talks because the input should not end when the meeting ends,\u201d Lockard said, adding the next scheduled forum is on Sept. 10 and will focus on senior housing, a concern noted in the 2023 housing report.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will discuss available housing choices, current resources, accessibility, home preservation and service coordination. We will also ask older residents and service providers what we might be missing,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cAdults aged 55-plus lead more than half of all county households and that\u2019s why this issue truly matters. Senior housing is not a future issue. It\u2019s a current county issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockard highlighted some other upcoming plans for the collaborative beyond the senior housing summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next six months we want to build upon that base and to do that we really need a shared list of small actions that we can be taking. The priorities that we\u2019ve listed for ourselves over the next six months are to complete the first useful version of our GIS Housing Map Atlas,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cThen decide how partners and leaders in the community can use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A major focus will include housing priorities as presented by partners like the county commissioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to move stronger partnerships closer to funding and project readiness. We want to develop municipal education on redevelopment, preservation, zoning choices and practical housing tools. And we want to track our results and bring new funds into the county,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cWe also want to make sure that we\u2019re tracking public input, policy work and long term support for this initiative.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She reiterated the overarching goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is not to create a long wish list. Instead, we want to agree upon a few areas that are a priority to focus on. And if we can make those priorities match the city and the county, we can support and unlock real progress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In closing, Lockard asked and received from the commissioners their ongoing support for the collaborative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m genuinely asking you to continue to support this initiative. We feel that it\u2019s been powerful over the past six months and we think the next six months can be very, very fortuitous for the county. Your support can help us to reach useful data and staff knowledge at the county level,\u201d Lockard said. \u201cYour connections can help us to reach out to municipalities and being more involved in than just the city at the moment. It can also help us with public messages, grant letters, and public forums. But most of all, today, what I need your help with is choosing two to three housing priorities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commissioner chairman Mike Kuhn noted his support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe housing study that we authorized a couple of years ago only confirmed what we already knew and just wanted to find what we already knew. And that we need housing\u2026\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cWe need housing at all levels. And it\u2019s one of my pet peeves, as people tend to mention, \u2018affordable housing.\u2019 They assume it\u2019s subsidized; no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuhn said starter homes in certain areas of the city used to cost $89,000 about five to 10 years ago but now typically cost a minimum of $150,000, as told to him by his wife who is a real estate agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said there were great starter homes for a young couple that could build some equity and then move on to whatever their dream home was. But they\u2019re out of reach now, they\u2019re up to $150,000 or more,\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cSo people have a misnomer about \u2018affordable housing.\u2019 It\u2019s not subsidized. It\u2019s just something that a starter couple can afford. So anyway, we need it (affordability) at all levels. And I\u2019m glad that you\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we\u2019ll do our best to get back to you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Keep local news strong.<\/p>\n

Cancel anytime.<\/p>\n

Still no paywall!<\/p>\n

Fewer ads<\/p>\n

Exclusive events and emails<\/p>\n

All monthly benefits <\/p>\n

Most popular option<\/p>\n

Make a bigger impact<\/p>\n

Join the 1,100+ readers who support our work as members<\/p>\n

Already a member? Log in here to hide these messages<\/a><\/p>\n

Free local news isn\u2019t cheap. If you value the coverage LebTown provides, help us make it sustainable. You can unlock more reporting for the community by joining as a monthly<\/a> or annual<\/a> member, or supporting our work with a one-time contribution<\/a>. Cancel anytime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of\u00a0our Civic Impact Reporting Project. Lebanon County Commissioners received…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[65081,3108,93,9041,65082,2615],"class_list":["post-229095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-caitlin-lockard","tag-featured","tag-lebanon","tag-lebanon-county-commissioners","tag-lebanon-county-housing-collaborative","tag-shareimmediately"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117008617182513940","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}