In the Housing Act of 1949 Congress pledged, “a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family.” Within the City of West Des Moines there are a variety of housing options; from single-family to multi-family; both rental and owner-occupied. According to City records, West Des Moines has over 30,000 housing units; sixty-five percent of which are owner-occupied and thirty-five percent are renter-occupied. Housing is an essential and vital asset to the City of West Des Moines.

The City of West Des Moines has five overall goals for meeting housing and community development needs between 2010 and 2015 (per the City’s Consolidated Plan):

1. Produce and preserve both renter and owner-occupied affordable housing;
2. Address infrastructure needs that are tied to affordable housing or job creation;
3. Reduce the number of homeless families and individuals through homeless prevention programs
4. Maintain the City's ability to support the provision of special needs services, specifically as they are tied to affordable housing or job creation, meet the most urgent needs in the community and reduce demands on other city services; and
5. Explore the possibility of leveraging the initial allocation (or allocations) to have a larger initial impact.

The City of West Des Moines offers an owner-occupied rehabilitation program for its residents.  For information on this program:

• Metro Home Improvement Program

Also, the City of West Des Moines works with several housing programs as an administrative entity. The City has been hired by the Dallas County Local Housing Trust Fund, Inc. to provide administrative services to the trust fund. The City is the designated administrative entity for the Metro Home Improvement Program and the City administers the Community Development Block Grant funds it receives from the United State Department of Housing and Urban Development.  

For more information on any of the above mentioned programs:

• Dallas County Local Housing Trust Fund, Inc. (DCLHTF)
• Metro Home Improvement Program
• Community Development Block Grant Program