Putting a Face on Affordable Housing

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Putting a Face on Affordable Housing

• Leadership Eastside Team 5
• Class of 2007

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Topics

• The face of affordable housing
• Our community partner
• Our products
• Informational Brochure
• Advocacy PowerPoint
• Wrap up and next steps

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The faces of affordable housing

• Eastside Median Home Price in 2006

450,000
Estimate based on data in Seattle Metropolitan
Magazine, April 2007
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Community Partner

• ARCH
• A Regional Coalition for Housing

• Arthur Sullivan, ARCH Program Manager

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Informational Brochure

• Created by
• Leadership Eastside
• Team 5
• in conjunction with
• ARCH

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Putting a Face on Affordable Housing

• Leadership Eastside Team 5
• Class of 2007

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The Eastside a beautiful
place to live

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Affordable Housing

• Housing is affordable when a household pays no
  more than 30 percent of its income for housing.

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Households Paying More than 30 of Income for
Housing
38
King County Benchmarks Report Affordable
Housing, Dec. 2006, p. 4
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Affordability Gap for Home Ownership in King
County
King County Benchmarks Report Affordable
Housing, Dec. 2006, p. 6
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Why affordable housing is important

• It impacts everyone who lives or works on the
  Eastside

• Creating vibrant, healthy, safe communities
  depends on it

Its the right thing to do.
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We depend on
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Randy
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Who is Randy?

• Eastside paramedic
• Husband
• Father of two
• College graduate
• Homeowner
• 25-mile one-way commuter
• Earns 57,800

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How much house could Randy buy?
Randys 57,800 annual income
buys 48 of an Eastside median-priced home.
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Heather
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Who is Heather?

• Eastside teacher
• Single mother of two
• Bachelors degree
• Apartment renter
• 15-mile one-way commuter
• Earns 36,100

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How much house could Heather buy?
Heathers 36,100 annual income
buys 27 of an Eastside median-priced home.
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What can our community do?
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Avenues to Affordable Housing

• Direct city support
• Other city support
• Public/private direct support
• Land use incentives
• Land use/building regulations

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Direct city support

• Provide funds for affordable housing through
• Demolition tax
• Condo conversion tax
• Commercial impact fee
• ARCH Trust Fund

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Other city support

• Sales tax exemption for affordable housing
• Long term property tax exemption for mixed use
  development
• Tax increment financing

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Public/private direct support

• Surplus/undeveloped private or public land
• Private sector employer investment
• Private funds for homebuyer or renter assistance
• Public/private partnerships

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Land use incentives

• Bonus for affordable housing
• (e.g., cluster density, building height)
• Mandatory or voluntary
• Reduced building fees

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Land use/building regulations

• Housing emphasis zones in mixed use neighborhood
• Innovative small homes in single family areas
  (e.g., cottage, duplex)
• Reduced parking requirements for affordable
  housing in urban centers

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Greenbrier Heights,Woodinville

• ARCH Housing Trust Fund
• Density bonus for affordability
• Land use regulations for street width
• Reduced/waived building fees

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Highland Gardens, Issaquah

• Density bonus for affordability and open space
  preservation
• Tax credits
• Public/private partnership

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Rosecrest at Talus, Issaquah

• Density bonus for affordability
• Land use regulations for street width
• Reduced/waived building fees
• Housing emphasis zones in mixed use neighborhood

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What you can do NOW
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Take Action!

• Get informed!
• Talk to your City Council member
• Talk with your church or civic group
• Get involved with ARCH partners like St. Andrews
  Housing Group, Hopelink, Friends of Youth,
  Downtown Action to Save Housing
• See www.archhousing.org for more information
  and a complete list of partners