Density Bonus Essay

Cowan D & Marsh. 2001. A Two Steps Forward: Housing Policy into the New Millennium. Policy Press

The problems that arise from housing are numerous. Housing takes up more than half of all real property tax. Not only that, it’s also the largest issue in a family’s budget. The federal government spent $38 billion in preferential subsidies and $2 trillion on housing in total in the year 2006. Rigid zoning codes prohibit certain types of housing from being built. This prevents some citizens from being provided with homes that fit their budget and ads to the chronic problem of homelessness our communities face. Too many houses can crowd neighborhoods and make transit difficult. They can also obstruct view and, when foreclosed upon, lead to plummeting property values.

The obstacles landlords have to overcome causes them to lose their motivation to invest in rental properties and they instead flock towards other housing options to include condominiums, office towers, and hotels.

Americans across the United States search for the perfect home, location and square footage of course a great price to pay for their castle. Finding an affordable place to live is ideal, and necessary for survival in this day of age. As the years go by the cost of living increases but Americans do not receive a cost of living raise. The demand for affordable housing is on a all time high, but so is the cost of housing in the metropolitan areas across the United States. America must take care of its citizens and should provide affordable housing programs, to assist Americans to either purchase or rent a home.

Many advocates and policymakers of housing for the poor believe that to achieve optimal human development of low-income households the location of the housing must be considered as well as the quality of the housing unit (Newman, 2008).

Today, I am going to speak about the affordable housing in Pittsburgh .First let me tell about why the affordable housing is preferred. People who live in affordable housing today want safe, decent housing for the same reasons that we all do. The reasons are mainly to provide a nurturing environment to raise their children. Another reason is to remain in the community where they were raised or to become part of a community in which they want to settle. Finally, to live in an attractive, safe environment that they can afford. People who need affordable housing are ones that are employed as secretaries, school teachers, local government employees, restaurant workers and sales clerks. These workers need affordable housing because of the wide gap

Affordable housing: Rental housing or property that costs no more than 30% of one’s income. This is the long-established criterion for housing affordability (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2013).

What is known about the dearth of inexpensive living spaces in high-cost, heavy populated areas is its scarcity is a function of supply. Demand remains a non-issue for policy makers as demand has

The Public Policy Institute states that Section 8 project-based rental assistance contracts involving HUD and for-profit owners contracting private multifamily housing, which is made available by HUD to low-income households who qualify for housing assistance. The subsidy is such that pays the difference "between 30 percent of the household's income and the contract rent; the subsidy is paid by HUD to the landlord." (AARP Public Policy Institute, 2002) In addition, HUD has Dispersal programs for renters of Section 8 housing due to the desire of the public to avoid to concentration of poverty-level residents in urban areas. This is because there is a general consensus that Section 8 subsidized housing tends to drive down the market prices of property in the same area. There are various challenges that are faced by the Section 8 subsidized housing program as it assists low-income households obtain appropriate housing through the provision of rental assistance.

In Fiscal Year 2016, the area median income for Chicago was $76,900. Because Housing Choice Vouchers are intended to assist low income families, eligibility for vouchers is limited to households whose income does not exceed 80% of area median income, which was approximately $61,520 in 2016. More importantly, distribution requirements specify that at least 75% of Section 8 vouchers must go to households designated as “very low income,” meaning that their income does not exceed 30% of the area median income. In 2016 in Chicago, the figure constituting 30% of area median income was approximately $18,456. Complainant’s annual income, excluding the Section 8 voucher, was $8,796, thus placing her within the very low income threshold for housing seekers. Therefore, it appears that Respondent’s minimum income policy excluded over 75% of Section 8 voucher holders. As such, this facially-neutral policy has a disparate impact on persons with a Housing Choice Voucher as a source of

Often, when someone can’t afford housing prices, they will apply for low-income housing prices that will

The Fair Housing Act impacts all family functions from single to two parent households. The policy affects any family that is seeking to purchase or rent housing. However, there are exemptions to the act for multifamily units referred to as Mrs. Murphy exemption (Powell, 2009). The exemption states that if a dwelling has four or fewer rental units and the owner lives in one of those units, that home is exempt from the FHA. In addition, the economic characteristics of families that are greatly affected by this policy are those in poverty. After the passing of FHA, “the poverty rate rose between 1999 and 2005, in the nation's 100 largest metro areas (which encompass two-thirds of the U.S. population), poverty rates rose by 52[%] for residents living below the poverty line. This was the first time in modern history that more poor people are in the suburbs than the city” (Powell, 2009, p.148).

We looked at a variety of ways to help alleviate this cost. Since one of the main issues causing high living costs in the Bay Area is shortage of housing one of the possible solutions could be building more housing. Possible problems here are that San Francisco itself is not too big of a city and in most cities of this type in the world the population density is increased by building tall buildings –

As outlined in greater detail below, this bill would disrupt the real estate marketplace by complicating and delaying home sales, negatively impacting those who do not have the resources to invest in energy efficiency, and would replace a successful program with a state mandate that would punish many homeowners in the Commonwealth.

Due to the growing demand for housing, CDCs must compete with market rate developers when acquiring properties (Alejandrino 28). Because of this competition, the cost of developing affordable housing is driven up, and this makes it harder for the CDCs to complete their function as aids for people in the community.