A couple of affordable housing statistics

I'm still digesting this Neighborhood Housing and Community Development report on affordable housing in Austin (pdf).  For now let me cherry pick two interesting statistics:

• Number of affordable multi-family units built under the S.M.A.R.T. Housing program since 2000:  5,966.  (p. 6)
• Number of multi-family units removed from the market since 2006:  3,000. (p. 11)

Two thoughts:

1.  I was surprised that the S.M.A.R.T. program has produced that many units; but

2.  an average production of 1,000 multi-family units per year is well below the replacement rate. 

I'm not knocking S.M.A.R.T. housing.  5,966 affordable multi-family units are better than 0 units, and there are other affordable housing programs (although the S.M.A.R.T. housing program is touted as one of the more successful ones).

But these statistics suggest that the S.M.A.R.T. Housing program can satisfy only a small percentage of the total demand for affordable housing.  Most people will have to look elsewhere.  S.M.A.R.T. Housing's real benefit is in directing affordable housing to desired (i.e., otherwise expensive) locations.

Comments

[Shilli]

I think we need to decide as a city that there are some types of development we want (and decide where we want that development to go) and create a paradigm that allows developers to go through a streamlined city approval process to build that kind of development. Right now a developer wants to build a 100% SMART housing development in Windsor Park, but will have to go in front of city council to make it happen. With those kind of impediments, it is hardly surprising that not much of this housing gets built. I think the real estate market has become marginal enough that we aren't going to see many more developers willing to spend the time and money to get all the approvals and variances required to build something good. Instead, they will just build whatever is allowed by current code.

[M1EK]

Which is exactly why I get so furious at the McMansion ordinance guys who assure us that good projects can still get done with the appropriate variance process. Uh, no, they won't; most people will see that pothole-filled road coming and decide to pull off in advance.

[AC]

The Residential Design & Compatibility Commission isn't approving McMansion variances, or so I've heard. Setback variances require a trip to the Board of Adjustment, and we know how liberal they are with variances.

Because of escalating construction costs, developers of VMU are now giving up relaxed dimensional standards rather than include affordable housing, particularly where 60% median income is mandated.

A lot of the problem is that the city basically permits only large multi-family projects. At some point, it will have to permit small (3- to 4-unit) projects in SF neighborhoods, with _reasonable_ design standards to protect surrounding homeowners.