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Title:
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Affordable Housing Strategy
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Title
Affordable Housing Strategy
Description
The Affordable Housing Initiative was created last year to document and address the City's current shortage in affordable housing. Through extensive research and community outreach, this report identifies the housing needs in our community, documents the housing gap, compiles nationwide best practices, provides nine recommended policy initiatives, and establishes a goal of creating or preserving 50,000 homes by 2030.
THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
Report
Summary
Affordable, accessible and decent housing is of critical importance to a community's health and viability. With an influx of new residents and rising rents and home prices, the City of Phoenix is experiencing a significant shortage in affordable housing options. In 2019, the City Council approved a new position to complete an Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI) with the following goals: identify the housing needs in our community, create an inventory of affordable housing communities, document the gap in affordable housing, conduct outreach, and compile research on best practices for affordable housing incentives.
On Dec. 17, 2019, the Housing Department provided an overview of the AHI goals and timeline to the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee and received feedback regarding outreach and policy research. Since December, the Housing Department has completed extensive research and community outreach. The results of our findings are detailed in a comprehensive draft "Housing Phoenix Plan" (see Attachment A). The proposed Plan includes results of our Needs Assessment and Housing Gap Analysis. The major conclusions from these are identified below:
Forty-six percent of Households have incomes that are low, very low, or extremely low
Sixty-five percent of Households have incomes that require workforce or subsidized housing
Thirty-six percent or 199,636 total households are cost burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income toward rent
Phoenix's housing production has not kept pace with population growth
Phoenix needs an additional 163,067 housing units to adequately house its current population
Of the 163,067 units needed: 63,486 are needed market rate units and 99,581 are needed affordable/subsized units
The Housing Phoenix Plan seeks to create a stronger and more vibrant Phoenix through increased housing options for residents at all income levels and family sizes. This vision will be achieved through one proposed goal and nine policy initiatives as described below.
Proposed Goal: To create or preserve 50,000 housing units by 2030 and increase overall supply of market, workforce, and affordable housing through the implementation of nine housing policies:
Prioritize new Housing in Areas of Opportunity
Approve Zoning Ordinance Amendments to facilitate more Affordable Housing Options
Redevelop City Owned Land with Mixed-Income Housing
Enhance Public-Private Partnerships and Increase Funding Options for Affordable Housing
Implement Cost Saving Policies for Housing Development
Increase Affordable Housing Developer Representation on Boards and Commissions
Expand Efforts to Preserve Existing Housing Stock
Support Affordable Housing Legislation
Initiate an Affordable Housing Education Campaign
These policies are proposed to be included in the final Housing Phoenix Plan. The Plan, when implemented, will help diversify housing options, increase the number of housing units, and help us continue to welcome new residents to Phoenix.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
This item was presented to and discussed by the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee on May 20, 2020.
Public Outreach
The Housing Department completed over 50 stakeholder and/or community meetings obtaining feedback and input from the public regarding the Affordable Housing Initiative and potential policy suggestions.
Department
Responsible Department
This item will be presented by Assistant City Manager Deanna Jonovich, Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and Housing Director Cindy Stotler.