Pennsylvania Voters Across Parties Support Public Investments for Housing Repairs
By Anika Dandekar and Sabrina Jacobs
Pennsylvania has some of the oldest stock of housing in the country. For years, weather damage, unreliable heating, and severe structural inadequacies have led to housing insecurity and expensive home repairs.
New polling by Data for Progress and People’s Action shows that Pennsylvania voters are struggling to afford the costs of utilities and home repairs. About a quarter of Pennsylvania voters, across partisan lines, say their current place of residence needs critical repairs, including 29 percent of voters in urban areas, 20 percent of voters in suburban areas, and 31 percent of voters in rural areas.
Furthermore, we find that over one in four Pennsylvania voters cannot afford to pay their utility bills. Twenty-six percent of voters say that in the past few months they would describe their utilities as unaffordable, including 27 percent of Democrats, 24 percent of Independents, and 34 percent of Republicans. Over one third of rural Pennsylvania voters, as well as 28 percent of urban Pennsylvania voters, find their utility bills unaffordable.
Home repairs, including fixing leaky roofs, heating, and exposed wiring, are crucial to living in a safe environment. However, we find nearly half of Pennsylvania voters are struggling to pay for critical home repairs. Forty-seven percent of voters say that they would not be able to afford repairs or they would be forced to cut back on other expenses in order to make the repair. Among those polled, 46 percent of urban voters, 43 percent of suburban voters, and 54 percent of rural voters say that they would struggle to pay for necessary repairs.
In order to help those struggling to afford housing in Pennsylvania, lawmakers are proposing the Whole-Home Repairs Act. The bipartisan act would create a state fund that homeowners and landlords could access for assistance with home repairs and making homes more energy efficient. The Whole-Home Repairs Act would also fund training for workers to properly repair homes and build a workforce capable of meeting the growing demand.
We find 76 percent of voters overall support the Whole-Home Repairs Act, including Democrats by a +83-point margin, Independents by a +56-point margin, and Republicans by a +33-point margin. At least three-quarters of Pennsylvania voters living in urban and rural areas support the bill as well.
The affordable housing crisis in Pennsylvania is worsening and residents are suffering the consequences, including rising crime tied to evictions in the state. Many aging homes across the Commonwealth have moderate to severe structural inadequacies, resulting in exposure to hazards like lead and mold, extreme heat and cold, and exorbitant utility bills. Pennsylvania residents unable to afford repairs may be forced to forgo regular maintenance and small upgrades, deferring until an urgent repair is needed, and far more expensive. Families then face an untenable situation: living in a home that is fundamentally unsafe, abandoning it, or selling it to a speculator. The Whole-Home Repairs Act provides a bipartisan solution, supported by vast majorities of rural and urban Pennsylvania voters alike. The bill will help fund home repairs, preserve existing housing units, reduce crime, and allow all Pennsylvanians to live in a healthy and safe environment.
Anika Dandekar (@AnikaDandekar) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Sabrina Jacobs (@bri_jacobs) is a digital fellow at Data for Progress
Survey Methodology
From May 5 to 17, 2022, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 745 likely voters in Pennsylvania using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points.