WHAT CAN THE LEAGUE DO TOWARDS INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF
HOUSING AFFORDABLE TO LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN
A RESOURCE GUIDE
SEPTEMBER 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I
What is meant by affordable housing?
II
Local league housing positions
III
2000-2005 increase in median price – for sale housing
V
Housing choice voucher program
VI
Nonprofit housing groups active in the County
VII
Impact fees, recordation fees, and transfer taxes
VIII Rental registration and/or regular inspection
of rental units
IX
Inclusionary zoning/MPDU legislation
X
Dedicated revenue source for affordable housing and other affordable housing
policy initiatives
XI
Regulations that may have the effect of limiting affordable housing
XII
Financing tools used to expand affordable housing options
XIII
LWVMD POSITIONS ON HOUSING
XIV
LWVUS POSITIONS ON HOUSING
XV
MARYLAND COUNTIES BY REGION/LEAGUES INCLUDED IN STUDY
XVII
TURNING INFORMATION INTO IDEAS FOR ACTION
In 2005, the need for
affordable housing was listed as a priority for action by many local
leagues. The existing lack of affordable
housing throughout the state has been exacerbated in the past several years by
the “real estate bubble”. Local, state,
and strong national positions exist on affordable housing, but it was not clear
what the League should advocate for to alleviate this housing crisis. Our goal
is the provision of safe and affordable housing in each jurisdiction that is
within economic reach of all that community’s citizens. The state League decided to form a committee
to survey the status of happening with housing in each County.
The Committee compiled this
data to identify activities, regulations, laws, and funding sources that are effective
in expanding housing opportunities in each jurisdiction, and those that are the
most egregious in eliminating opportunities.
While committee members gathered information from most counties – the
committee was not able to collect
significant information from, Caroline, or
Today there is a rapidly
increasing housing affordability gap affecting a wide range of families and
individuals in our Country. According to
the
In 2005, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
updated their 1991 report “Not In
My Back Yard: Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing”, concluding ,
“NIMBYism continues to prompt the implementation of regulatory barriers that
pose major obstacles to rental housing, high-density development, and other
types of affordable housing”. The
Campaign for Affordable Housing, a national nonprofit, reviewed public opinion
polls and determined that “opinion poll respondents rank the need for
affordable homes for low and moderate income families second only to health
care and employment”. In a recent HUD publication
entitled The Public’s View of
Affordable Housing, HUD stated: “There is a broad consensus that
government should see that everyone has access to decent and affordable
housing…According to the National
Association of Realtors 68% of those surveyed in 2005 agreed ‘that
government should place a higher priority on making housing – both for renters
and homeowners-more affordable in my area”.
The Minnesota Housing Partnership
(which included the LWV as a member) www.HousingMinnesota.org ,
sponsored a statewide public relations campaign emphasizing:
·
Those who need
affordable housing are important to us and our community
·
Those living in
safe, affordable housing are better able to take responsibility for themselves
and raise their children to become productive citizens
·
Our community
will be stronger if it adequately meets the housing needs of its workforce.
There are two ways to
look at what is affordable housing: 1) What an individual or family can
afford, or 2) The housing stock in a
community.
What an
individual household/ family can afford to pay for housing is defined as
housing demand:
•According
to the federal government,
housing is considered affordable if it costs
no more than 30% of a household’s gross monthly income. For renters, this
definition includes rent and utilities. For
homeowners, the federal definition includes mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance,
and utilities.
•Housing industry
standards are
slightly looser estimating a household’s home-purchase affordability
ratio at about
3 times its annual gross income. Using multifamily industry standards, a renter
household can afford to spend up to 30% of its gross monthly income on contract rent( as opposed to 30% for rent+
utilities).
Housing supply
is the existing housing in a jurisdiction.
•For homeownership units -
estimate earnings needed to afford to purchase a home at the median sales price
for the jurisdiction or estimate the price that a household earning the median
income for the jurisdiction can afford to pay.
•For rental units, - estimate
the rental household income necessary to afford a two-bedroom or three-bedroom
unit at the price at which the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development says 40% of the units in that area
rent for less than and 60%rent for a higher amount (the “fair market rent”).
Charts showing median housing prices, are included as
Section III.
Work with local
government and community associations to maximize the availability of decent
safe affordable housing for all citizens.
Support for:
·
Effective
housing code and zoning codes adequately enforced
·
Rent
subsidies for low income families
·
Local
emphasis on the following national positions
o Fair housing laws and equal access to
housing
o Publicly assisted housing to be included
in viable, balanced communities with provisions that encourages integration and
stability
o Zoning practices and procedures that will
counteract racial and economic isolation
o Participation of citizen groups in the
development of publicly assisted housing programs
Calvert
·
Advocate
for housing in the affordable range for moderate and low income families and
for the elderly.
·
Advocate
for inclusionary zoning, acquisition of public land for low cost housing and
allocation of a percentage of all sewer taps for low cost housing.
·
Support
affordable/work force housing for families with children.
Howard -
·
Support
for an adequate housing choice, in a suitable living environment, within the
economic reach of all citizens (Persons) of all ages. Support for maintaining
and increasing diverse housing types as well as increasing the number and
percentage of affordable units in the county (2005)
·
Relocating
low-income persons displaced by government action (1968, 1985, 2005).
·
Assistance
in the relocation of low and moderate income persons involuntarily displaced.
(2005)
·
Zoning
regulations which require a minimum percentage of affordable housing for
persons of moderate income. (2005)
·
A
portion of new affordable housing to be reserved for
·
Favorable
tax treatment for the building and maintaining of affordable housing. (2005)
·
Public
and private partnerships to build and manage affordable housing facilities
(2005)
·
Other
measures to include county financing and construction of housing: public
financial assistance to rehabilitate existing housing; rental housing. (2005)
·
Growth
Management measures that include:
o a growth cap which controls the pace of
private development when public services are inadequate.
o an adequate public facilities ordinance
which defers new development until essential public facilities, which meet
established capacity standards, are available to service the development.
Essential facilities are water, sewerage, schools and roads.
o impact fees as a means of funding some of
the capital costs incurred when new development occurs.
o developer-provided sites and/or public
facilities which meet county-set standards for acceptability.
o agriculture as a preferred land use in
the rural areas of the county. (1991)
o provisions for clustering in rural areas
through legal mechanism that would:
o maintain “remainders” as open land in
perpetuity, by such methods as turning over “remainders” to a third party like
an environmental trust;
o requiring “remainders” to be of
reasonable size and quality (1991)
Support for the: Active
enforcement of the county-wide housing code; active enforcement of the
county-wide building code; County government actively seeking means to meet the
county housing needs through private and public money.
Housing and public
accommodations: support for
Support for:
·
Affordable housing: Comprehensive efforts by
o flexible and comprehensive approaches using private,
county, and federal funds
o Continued reliance on the Montgomery County Housing
Opportunities Commission
o changes in zoning ordinances and related regulations
to require provision for low – and moderate income housing in all residential
and mixed – use zones
o use of scattered sites and application of the
principles of economic diversity in residential zoning categories
o use of inclusionary zoning, Moderately Priced
Dwelling Units
o preservation of existing communities where feasible
and/or desired
o strict enforcement of housing codes with shift to
civil penalties
o use of tax structure and policies such as tax
abatement to maintain and increase the supply of affordable housing
o supportive community services
o permitting accessory apartments with adequate
controls to prevent neighborhood deterioration
o The regulations governing approval of accessory
apartments should be changed
§
reduce the
5-year requirement for a house to have an accessory apartment
§
allow the board
of appeals to use discretion in granting waivers in exceptional cases
o encouragement of increase in the stock of single room
occupancy (SRO) housing such as personal living quarters by appropriate means
o permitting use of mobile homes on scattered sites and
encouragement of well designed mobile parks
·
Fair Housing
o Comprehensive fair housing legislation in
real estate and lending
practices (1966, 1989)
o Continuation of the office of Landlord/Tenant Affairs
with quasi-judicial powers (1972, 1989)
o A model lease, defined as a mutual contract, which
includes a warranty of habitability and protection against retaliatory eviction
(1972,1989)
·
Homelessness
o Montgomery County policies and programs to provide
shelter and services to meet the needs
of the homeless, including emergency shelters, transitional housing,
detoxification centers, halfway houses, permanent group housing for persons
with disabilities and support personnel. (1989)
·
Public Accommodations and Human Relations
o Comprehensive legislation to outlaw discrimination in
o Adequate financing for the Human Relations Commission
so that it can perform the functions authorized in the law (1964)
St. Mary's
·
Create
a housing trust fund from fees, taxes, and contributions to be used to
construct low income/affordable housing.
·
Establish
a community land trust of donated or purchased land to encourage builders to
construct low income/affordable housing
·
Examining
the concept of monetary incentives for developers who build low
income/affordable housing or include a percentage of such housing in new
developments.
Talbot
·
Recommend that
the Board of the League of Women Voters of Talbot County take action, as called
for in the local, state and national League positions, to promote inclusion of
the following in the town and
o
“Phase in a
system of scheduled inspections of rental properties to enforce the Minimum
Livability Code, ensuring that all rental housing is adequately maintained.
o
Take other action as deemed necessary in
conjunction with this recommendation.
·
· The League of
Women Voters believes that government should develop policies that assure the
opportunity for individuals and families to obtain decent housing and therefore
supports efforts that would help county employees afford homes
in