10,000 Affordable Units by 2020: DC's New Housing Strategy

• March 12th 2013

by Shilpi Paul

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In his State of the District speech last month, Mayor Vincent Gray lamented the lack of affordable housing in the city. “We once worried about the District becoming a city of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,’” said Gray. “But now we are increasingly in danger of becoming a city of only ‘haves’.”

Now, he is taking action.

This morning, Mayor Gray released a new housing strategy for the city, created by the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force, reported Housing Complex.

The 48-page report — Bridges to Opportunity: A New Housing Strategy for DC — echoes Gray’s concerns:

[There is] the risk that the District will become a place where only those at the lowest incomes (who have subsidies) and those at the highest incomes can afford to live—sending many working and middle-class households out of the District.

The plan pledged, among other things, to create 10,000 new affordable units by 2020, known as “10×20”. Here are a few other interesting highlights from the report:

• DC lost more than half its low-cost rental units in the past decade. The number of units that cost less than $750 per month fell from 70,600 to 34,500.
• The average rent for a unit in DC is $2,054 per month, and the average price of a home is $552,000. The median price in $439,000.
• Until 2020, the city will use subsidies to preserve 8,000 existing affordable units.
• The city will support the production of 3,000 market rate housing units annually, also through 2020.
• Resources towards the Housing Production Trust Fund, which is currently dwindling, and other existing housing programs will be significantly increased.
• A new program, The Housing Innovation Fund, will be created with the intention of financing “shovel ready” affordable projects, including the 10×20 goal.
• The permitting process for affordable and market-rate housing projects will be streamlined, and a one-stop website for affordable housing finance information will be created.

Last month, Gray also announced that the city would be pledging $100 million towards affordable housing, an amount that will surely help these programs get off the ground. Take a look at the full report here, courtesy of Housing Complex.

Similar Posts:

• Does DC Have a Housing Strategy?
• The Changing Face of Housing in DC

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/10000_affordable_units_by_2020_mayor_gray_releases_new_housing_strategy/6777.