THE COUNTY
We need Albemarle County to take action so that enough homes can be built for everyone in our community to have a safe, accessible and affordable home. The largest obstacle to building affordable housing is funding. Over 850 communities across the country have begun to address this be establishing affordable housing trust funds that leverage public dollars to create more affordable housing. In fact, IMPACT got the city of Charlottesville to establish a housing trust fund in 2008, that has now funded the construction and renovation of nearly 3500 affordable homes. Albemarle County does have a “housing fund”, but it does not have any governing ordinance or dedicated funding, which are critical to being able to be strategic and targeted in building more affordable housing.
At our 2024 Nehemiah Action (News coverage on our Nehemiah Action: The Daily Progress; Cville Tomorrow) with over 1,000 people, We asked Supervisors Ned Galloway, Ann Mallek, and Michael Pruitt to draft an ordinance to establish the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and to vote on it by the end of 2024. We want the ordinance to include: 1) An annual allocation of at least $10MM a year, 2) an independent governing structure for the expenditure of the funds and a requirement for public annual reports, and 3) prioritizing funding for the construction of housing for families making less than 60% of the area median income, about $75,000 a year.
All three supervisors said “yes”.
However, there is still more work to be done to make sure this gets pushed through. Our next Nehemiah Action will be on April 8th and we are expecting several County Supervisors and Candidates for the seats up for election this year to be present. You can also join us at the upcoming County Budget hearings on March 5th and April 23rd to push for $10MM towards affordable housing.
The Problem
There are at least 10,000 low income families who are one paycheck away from homelessness because they pay more than half their income toward housing. This problem has grown since the start of the pandemic. Four out of five of these families earn less than $43,000 each year. Rents in the region have increased by 42% between 2011 and 2018, with residents experiencing a rent increase of 7% in 2017. In Albemarle County the affordability requirements for 445 units will expire within the next 10 years, potentially kicking 445 families into the streets. Seniors and people of color are affected at disproportionate rates.
Our vision is to see HOUSING FOR ALL: Everyone needs an opportunity for safe, accessible and affordable housing. A bold step toward this is for the County and to commit to solutions that will provide at least 1,500 new affordable homes by 2030. Here’s how we get there:
WHAT WE WANT IN THE COUNTY
We want an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that will prioritize low-income families and seniors. To do that well, it needs $10 million annually from dedicated funding sources. We will also need the trust fund to be established by ordinance to make sure that families between 30%-60% area median income are prioritized.
Our affordable housing campaign started out as an elder care issue, because our senior citizens are being priced out of their homes and becoming homeless.