JULY ISSUE: Bridging the Affordable Housing Gap

As federal resources have been cut in an effort to balance the budget, key affordable housing programs have been threatened.

By Anna Spiewak, News Editor 

TREND_Fox Point

As federal resources have been cut in an effort to balance the budget, key affordable housing programs have been threatened. Yet rents continue to rise while household incomes remain flat. Affordable housing agencies and developers alike are taking notice and coming up with solutions to bridge the gap in sustainable living for lower- and middle-income renters.

“There are new shifts, more out of the sensitivity and concerns of the longevity of the programs,” Flynann Janisse, executive director at Rainbow Housing Assistance Corp., told Commercial Property Executive. “There are funding sources that are depleting, so there is a sense of urgency to really wrap your arms around different programs and make sure they’re sustainable (and) make assets financially stable from a debt-service perspective.”

Most recently, newly elected New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is addressing the need for affordable housing for both low- and middle-income renters with a new 10-year plan, which calls for the construction of 80,000 new residential units and the rehabilitation of 120,000 existing apartments across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan.

Read the full article in the July 2014 issue of CPE. Access is free!