It’s a discussion about housing policy this week with Angela Caputo of the Chicago Reporter and Ethan Michaeli of We the People Media.

How much does it cost the City of Chicago to rehab an abandoned house to get it into salable condition? Surprise: a lot. But as Angela points out, some buyers are snapping abandoned places up, doing almost no repairs and marketing them as “voucher” dwellings, then charging the CHA up to a grand a month for rat-infested slums.

And you might not be surprised to learn that the City paid $594k to rehab a house at Montrose and Kimball, then sold it or $187k. And that $594k was less than the city’s housing rehab program spent in all of Roseland.

Here’s Angela’s excellent report on how housing rehab money is being spent across Chicago.