Federal agency targets housing affordability in new program

(InvestigateTV) — According to the 2023 State of the Nation’s Housing report released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, 31% of all households were cost burdened in 2021, meaning they pay more than 30% of their take-home income on housing alone.

In an effort to build more affordable housing, some states and the federal government are implementing policies, such as the Housing Trust Fund from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Biden administration has also implemented other policies, including the push to promote commercial to residential conversion projects.

Sara Bronin with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is trying to do just that – revamp historic or vacant buildings that are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and turn them into living spaces.

“We’ve heard a lot from people who are really interested in creating housing. People, developers, architects, property owners who say, well my building can be used for this, if only we can get some of that red tape out of the way,” Bronin explained.

The ACHP recently established a policy statement and a set of principles local governments can use to revitalize these spaces.

“The key principle I think is we think historic preservation and affordable housing can go hand in hand. So, we think that through federal government incentives, like the historic tax credit, property owners can continue to create housing units in older buildings and also to rehabilitate existing housing units-where there already is housing,” Bronin said. “We also think states and local governments need to have partner incentives. Whether that’s tax credits, like the federal government uses, or perhaps tax deductions or even grant programs—for historic housing.”

Bronin said a prime example of rehabilitating a historic property is the Appleton at Spring Flats in Washington D.C. The 100-year-old building sat vacant for over a decade before non-profit developers completely renovated the property and transformed it into affordable housing for seniors.

Jeff Blackwell with Victory Housing said the Appleton at Spring Flats has been warmly embraced by the neighborhood. He added that finding a solution like this to addressing affordable housing is much needed.

“It can be a cost effective and a way to do community development,” Blackwell explained. “To actually bring the building back to its historic nature, as well as to make it safe for the public and stabilize communities.”

Bronin conceded that transforming historic buildings does come with challenges like building restrictions.

“Sometimes in the preservation world and in the past, we have looked at a building and said, this can’t be touched, this can’t be changed. But the reality is, for buildings to be reused, for them to have new life, we need to make sure that the material fabric can be changed,” Bronin noted. “And so, what we’re doing at the advisory council is, in our work with federal agencies, we are trying to update those, I would say outdated principles about how nothing can ever change, and to ensure that all of us agree that especially on the inside of buildings. Especially where things that are not historic.”

Bronin said those interested in finding out if historic buildings in their neighborhood are being rehabilitated can check with their state and local government.

She said starting at the local level and working with the community is a great place to start.