Affordable Housing By: Alex - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Affordable Housing

By: Alex

Bustillo

, Bernice

Boateng

, Jeannette Perez,

Isary

Gutierrez, Crystal

MordigliaSlide2

Issue/Problem/Community Needs

Financial burden for residents

Low income familiesFixed incomeGentrificationSlide3

Financial Burden for Residents

With the cost of living going up and employment wages not increasing, it has become very difficult for residents to keep their homes.

Low income families making between $20,000 and $40,000 a year spend around 44 percent of their income on rent, when families spend more than 30 percent of their income for housing, they are already considered cost burdened. They may even have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care, according to an article in the Huffington Post.Criteria's to be eligible is a concern for low income residents, with many families already on the low income category.People with disabilities also fall into the low income category.Slide4

Fixed Income Residents

Fixed income residents are the elderly population.

With the elderly population living on a fixed income, this makes it difficult for them to afford an apartment in their local residents. Without there being more affordable housing available, it can lead them to be forced into nursing homes or having a greater chance of becoming homeless with no where to live.Slide5

Gentrification

For every 100 low-income household, there are only 29 affordable rental units available.

Local neighbors and residents are being pushed out of their community because they can’t afford to live there anymoreAs families grow it is crucial or them to advance and move to a place with more space, but with minorities not being able to afford rent where they are currently living, this forces them to move somewhere else.Gentrification causes a huge change in local communities because residents are forced to leave because of unaffordable living prices.Slide6

Rent Regulated Housing

Rent- regulated housing is the single most important component of New York City’s housing for low-income workers. More than a million low-income families, with incomes below the poverty lines live in rent-regulated housing, compared to a little over half a million in public and subsidized housing combined.

Under rent regulation, landlords cannot terminate tenancy without good cause, even at the end of a lease agreement. They also cannot increase rents to effectively terminate the tenancy of tenants. Rent regulation can give tenants a higher sense of security and provides tenants with greater affordability to ensure them with a place to live.Slide7

Rent Regulated Housing Cont./Vacancy Decontrol

Unfortunately, legal provisions threaten to affect housing units that are vacant. Legal provisions for the deregulation of vacant units, known as vacancy decontrol, and rising costs of rents in general are decreasing the effectiveness of rent regulation and the ability of promoting affordable housing

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Vacancy Decontrol

Vacancy decontrol is legislation by the New York State legislature and legislation by the New York City Council, which allows for the deregulation of apartments when their legal rents reach $2,000 a month during a vacancy. Because other provisions allow for large increases during a vacancy, any apartment can be deregulated this way. This situation has been a large part of the increased rates in rental units across the state

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Vacancy Decontrol Continued…

Since 1993 landlords have been able to deregulate rent-stabilized apartments and some rent controlled apartments upon vacancy. By applying the “statutory vacancy bonus” rent increase to the previous stabilized rent and making “individual apartment improvements” to the vacant apartment, they can raise the legal rent to $2000, at which point it becomes deregulated.Slide10

For Example: if an apartment renting for the median affordable price of $910 becomes vacant, the legal rent for a two year lease, will rise to $1,092 based on the vacancy bonus. The individual apartment improvements can then add one dollar to the rent for every $40 spent on improvements, so $36,320 worth of improvements will result in a $2,000 legal rent and a deregulated apartment. And in these critical times the market is calling for higher and higher rent increases and can support an asking price of $2000 a month for a rental unit.Slide11

Why is Vacancy Decontrol a Problem?

This policy has generated substantial losses in the regulated housing stock. This represents a rapid shift in a market that is meant to be stabilized. Vacancy decontrol is impacting the low-income and all of its surroundings. It has caused the loss of an estimated 300,000 rent regulated apartments over the past decade. And a shrinking affordable housing stock which will lead to record numbers within homelessness.Slide12

Target for ChangeSlide13

What Can Help?

Two policy responses are needed; One to eliminate vacancy decontrol and one to slow the rent increases on the regulated housing stock. Repeal vacancy decontrol and reduce allowable increases on the regulated stock of affordable housing that’s already out there. Let newer generations be able to join rent stabilized units at prices that were once more favorable.Slide14

Younger renters are affected greatly, as they were not settled in before deregulation spread throughout the city, and now deal with finding residency within units that were once affordable and now no longer are due to the vacant units that landlords have increased the monthly rent to unaffordable amounts for young renters.

Way to attack the crisis would be by penalizing landlords for not registering apartments and auditing major rent increases without waiting for complaints from tenants, especially for owners who have a history of fraud. And most importantly, build it! The most effective way to create affordable housing would be to build

it. Slide15

Solve the problem

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 10 year plan

$41 billion to preserve and build 200,000 affordable housing unitsImplementing mandatory zoningIncreasing the number of homes for the lowest income New YorkersLaunching a new affordable housing program for middle-income New YorkersDoubling the Department of Housing Preservation and Development capital funding for affordable housingDevelopment of small, vacant sitesRent deregulation and protecting tenantsExpanding affordable and supportive housing for seniorsOffering energy-efficiency in exchange for long-term affordabilityCreating new strategies to prevent and reduce homelessness, and develop additional supportive housingSlide16

Organizations

Few organizations involved with Affordable Housing are:

Habitat for Humanity New York City builds affordable homes with first-time home buyers throughout the five boroughs. They also advocate for more affordable housing in the city and have a housing justice action center on their site.NYC Housing Connect is the city portal for searching and applying for affordable housing opportunities in New York.The Metropolitan Council on Housing is a tenants’ rights membership organization with the motto, “housing for people, not profit.” They have a tenants’ rights hotline for questions and a number of housing initiatives to strengthen tenants’ rights.Slide17

Public OpinionSlide18

Consideration of public opinion is

important

to the housing development planning process because such opinions not only influence the funding selected by private and public entities, but also the approval of necessary zoning permits, building construction, and overall community acceptance.Public housing developers benefit from researching public opinions prior to moving forward on a project because such polling helps organizations navigate the preparation and implementation process of the housing development, thus reducing opposition and increasing public support.Slide19

Affordable housing development faces many obstacles. Securing funds,

assigning

resources, and navigating the housing market are just some of the complexities that must be understood and overcome in order to provide those in need with affordable living. One of the greatest obstacles can be overcoming negative public perceptions towards public housing. It is fitting for affordable housing advocates and developers to obtain public support if they desire to pursue a project with the least amount of resistance and delay. Slide20

Negative Perceptions of Affordable Housing

Generally, opposition to affordable housing as a whole is referred to as “NIMBY”, which stands for “not in my backyard.” Individuals and organizations categorized as part of the NIMBY opposition resist the development of affordable housing in their community.

There are many underlying reasons that a person may not support affordable housing in their neighborhood. Opponents may engage in a variety of activities to discourage the development of housing in their area, such as: picketing, circulating petitions, and contacting their local representative.Slide21

The most common negative public perceptions regarding affordable housing include: 1) fear of increase in

crime 2) fear of decrease in property value

3) the belief that affordable housing properties are unattractive and poorly maintained and 4) an ideological view that affordable housing recipients do not deserve assistance. The goal of this study was not to determine conclusively whether such beliefs are valid, but rather demonstrate the importance of understanding public opinion and what affordable housing organizations can do to overcome such beliefs in order promote affordable housing.Slide22

Public opinion is a

dynamic force with numerous influences and complexities that can make it difficult to predict and understand. Many factors influence a person’s views of affordable housing beyond the most common negative perceptions described previously. A person may support affordable housing generally, but not understand how affordable housing is a solution for societal problems

today. It is also common for a person to support the development of affordable housing as an overall policy, but just not support development in their community. Another possibility is that an individual may support the goals of affordable housing, but have disagreements as to how development should be funded and what entities should distribute the assistance. Whatever the reasoning or misconceptions, it is important for affordable housing advocates to understand the public’s opinion prior to housing development.Slide23

Combating Negative Opinions of Public Housing

Having identified the most prevalent negative perceptions of public housing, we will now address the remedies for overcoming such potential opposition. Methods for overcoming opposition to affordable housing can be divided into three general categories: education and information, negotiation, and lastly, litigation.40 After having completed the initial “litmus test” of public opinion, housing organizers are ready to create an action plan to overcome any negative perceptions revealed during initial polling.Slide24

Educating the public with the facts of public housing is the greatest tool in overcoming negative public

perceptions. Providing information dispelling the most common misconceptions and stereotypes associated with public housing can be very effective in smothering NIMBY fires. While some communities require specific knowledge related to crime rates or property value in order to accept public housing, the majority of housing opponents simply need information demonstrating the necessity of affordable housing in their

area.Slide25

Negotiation is another tactic with which developers can overcome neighborhood opposition to affordable

housing.

By welcoming community input, developers are setting the stage for cooperation rather than a prolonged defensive-offensive game. A “joint problem-solving approach” that includes the concerns and desires of the community are often successful in seeing affordable housing come into fruition. Adaptations in the size or style of housing being built are changes often requested among community members. In most cases, litigation is used as a last resort. After providing information and making efforts to negotiate with a community have failed to dispel opposition, affordable housing advocates may consider if there are any statutes that would support their attempt to revitalize a neighborhood. Organizations may be able to sue if city zoning codes are not being upheld, or if the refusal to allow the development of affordable housing violates anti-discriminatory laws.Slide26

STRATEGIES AND TACTICSSlide27

ADVOCACY PLAN

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTEMAIL, PHONE CALLS, LETTERSTESTIFY AT PUBLIC HEARINGSOCIAL MEDIA

PAMPHLETNEWSPAPER, RADIO OR TV STATIONSSlide28

IMPLEMENTATIONTAKING ACTION

ATTENDED:MEETINGSPOSITION STATEMENT /LETTER

INDICATING OUR STAND ON THE ISSUEASKING FOR SPECIFIC SUPPORT TO HELP US IMPROVE OR RESOLVE THE CURRENT SITUATIONSlide29

SOCIAL MEDIA

SHARED ISSUES, ARTICLES, FACTS AND MOREFACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAMSlide30

JOINED THE COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETYhttp://www.cssny.orgSlide31

SIGNED PETITION https://www.change.org/