In this article Maxwell Drever shares his affordable workforce housing strategies. We know that the towns and cities in the United States are witnessing a crisis in affordable housing. The impact is acute for the people who reside in an urban neighbourhood, most of which is experiencing rapid redevelopment.
Today, housing costs are increasing. Also, the rental housing demand is increasing amongst the families at every income level. And the low-income renters paying a huge chunk of their earnings to cater to the housing requirements are highly vulnerable.
Here Maxwell Drever emphasizes the requirement of affordable workforce housing and mentions strategies to deliver it
1. Creating a multi-sector advisory group or committee to assist in redeveloping an inclusive policy for housing
Maxwell Drever says that the successful housing plans usually get developed via a method comprising various stakeholders, thereby promoting regional collaboration.
The group includes key and city partner representatives that can offer increased clarity about the local housing market. It can also help the city councils and local planning commissions to recognize the essential priorities and the actionable solutions during a particular period.
2. Make use of several tools and adapt the same to cater to the affordable housing market
Maxwell Drever says that by realizing that housing markets are different, the city leaders can opt-in for several housing tools and strategies, like incentive programs, tax credits, and use the zoning regulations strategically to cater to the economic context of the city. These tools can lessen the financing cost for a specific affordable housing project, especially in low-income neighbourhoods.
Furthermore, the city leaders must search for solutions that can make the most of the current resources, along with the innovative and new strategies that have proven to be efficient in cities with the same demographic characteristics and housing markets.
3. Enhance the connection between affordable housing and the workforce development programs
Usually, the cities will benefit when the residents can travel easily between the affordable housing communities and employment opportunities. And as the city leaders start to collaborate with the transportation agencies and local workforce in alignment with the bigger local employers, there can be a favourable outcome.
It can stir the transit-based development that leads to the generation of affordable housing units and cost protections for low-income individuals, and trustworthy transportation to employment scopes for the community.
4. Attribute local financial resources to preserve affordable housing units
This Maxwell Drever strategy dictates that the city leaders can assist families working hard to maintain and stay in their respective houses. The reduced interest loans for repairs and upgrades can avert abandonment and discourage predatory loan product use.
The enhanced housing stock and maximized homeownership rates can benefit both the residents and the city by enhancing neighbourhood stability and assisting the residents in developing assets.
5. Maximize neighbourhood stability through underutilized property investments by counting on funding sources and innovative partnerships
According to Maxwell Drever, the homes in the deteriorated properties, vacant spots, and foreclosures represent scopes for the city leaders to maximize the housing choices for the residents. The cities are coming up with creative ways to work with affordable housing developers.
For instance, the cities can get hold of vacant spots from the absentee landlords first and then join hands with non-profit or private developers to create affordable rental units.
These are five crucial ways in which Maxwell Drever suggests that city leaders deliver affordable housing projects to cater to the current need.
Watch this space for updates in the Opinion category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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