Planning for Permanent Affordability

Christina Loukas and Quin Seiler will be presenting at the Florida Housing Coalition Statewide Affordable Housing Conference August 28-30, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. Their session is titled, “Planning for Permanent Affordability.”

The Shimberg Center for Housing Studies reports that over 95,000 units of assisted rental units have come into the Florida market since the year 2000. However, in the same time period nearly 60,000 units of assisted rental units in Florida have turned into market rate housing due to expiring land use restriction agreements, and over 60,000 additional existing affordable housing units will likely exit the rolls over the next 30 years. In other words, we can’t build our way out of the affordable housing deficit unless we require long term or permanent affordability for all the units that receive government subsidy to make those units affordable.

This forum will present permanent and long-term affordability as a key policy and program response to expanding access to sorely needed affordable rental housing, which also increases housing stability, particularly for Florida’s low-income workforce. Presenters will discuss the role of mission-based organizations in tax credit partnerships and how this is encouraged through the Live Local Act, and share examples of state and local programs successfully implementing permanent affordability. Experts will also discuss the value of 99-year ground leases to ensure affordability and the implications of affordable rental housing as a permanent community asset in the context of community development and the provision of resident services for the benefit of the residents as well as the business community.