Rental housing preservation can be a complex endeavor. A strong data
collection effort to identify properties at risk of loss and key issues
that need to be addressed can aid good decision making and allocation
of resources, while helping communities prioritize their outreach and
development efforts. Preservation efforts can also be strengthened
through better coordination among the various players: local, state,
and federal officials, as well as nonprofit and for-profit developers,
owners, potential buyers, advocacy groups, lenders, community groups,
and other stakeholders. Finally, communities can use outreach and
technical assistance strategies to reach more owners and residents.
Experience has shown that not all affordable rental properties are
equally at risk. As illustrated in a diagram prepared by the National
Housing Trust and reproduced below, the existing stock of federally
assisted rental housing can be divided into three categories:
- Properties at risk from deterioration/abandonment
- Properties at risk from conversion to market rate
- Relatively stable properties at no immediate risk of conversion or deterioration
| From the Forum
"Collecting and analyzing data on subsidized affordable housing is important for identifying properties that might be at risk of being lost from the affordable housing stock. How are state and local groups using data to identify at risk housing and conduct outreach to interested buyers? What types of data are proving important for identifying at risk housing?"
See what other people said and add your response
The HousingPolicy.org Forum is a place to pose questions, exchange ideas, and learn from the experience and expertise of others. This section of the site features interactive forums organized around policy areas, including rental housing preservation.
|
A strong information collection and analysis program can help you determine which properties are at risk of loss and for what reason, helping you target and tailor your preservation efforts.
You are currently reading:
Improve information collection and policy coordination efforts
Collect, standardize, and widely share information about the characteristics of existing affordable rental properties, their residents, and key factors that create a risk of loss, as well as innovative and successful preservation strategies.
Other pages in this section:
 Enhance funding for preservation efforts
Stabilize and dedicate increased public funding to long-term preservation ownership, expand public-private financing sources for preservation transactions, and adopt innovative tax incentives to strengthen incentives for preservation.
 Create a policy environment that supports long-term preservation
Streamline, coordinate, and align policies and administrative practices to increase the likelihood that affordable rental homes will be preserved and improved, develop more support for long-term preservation owners and make preservation transactions easier, faster and less costly.
 Protect displaced residents
Help residents affected by displacement from affordable rental homes to understand their options, find other housing, and minimize disruption of schooling and social networks.
Click here to review case studies of successful preservation projects, or click here to view other resources on preserving affordable rental homes.
|
Data collection and analysisA number of cities and states have developed databases of their subsidized rental housing stock that help them identify and conduct outreach to properties that are most at risk of being lost due to expiring affordability restrictions, increases in market rents, physical deterioration or other factors. The state of New Jersey, for example, has developed the New Jersey Data Warehouse to enable the identification of properties with affordability restrictions set to expire within the next five years. The Preservation Division of the state's Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency uses this "priority list" to contact owners of high-risk properties and arrange refinancing agreements or transfers of ownership to keep the properties in the assisted housing portfolio.
Statewide in California, all localities are required to prepare a 10-year analysis of at-risk subsidized properties. The analysis must include the locality's preservation goals and provide a five-year action plan that identifies available financing and subsidies. In Chicago, the Rehab Network, a local nonprofit, tracks subsidized multifamily properties at risk of terminating their affordability contracts through a statewide database of the properties, which includes information on when their affordability term expires. The nonprofit also assists
| Solutions in Action
|
The Housing Preservation Project (HPP) is a public interest advocacy and legal organization headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. HPP created the first database of manufactured home park units in Minnesota, and was instrumental in the passage of state legislation that requires owners to notify the state housing finance agency when parks are scheduled to be closed. These accomplishments allow advocates to better track and respond to park closures.
Learn more about the Housing Preservation Project
|
in lining up purchasers for the properties.
In
Florida, the
Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse combines Federal and State housing data to produce a comprehensive picture of the subsidized housing stock, aiding state and local decision making. In particular, the Clearinghouse features an
Assisted Housing Inventory that contains property-level data about assisted rental housing.
A number of studies have been conducted to determine which factors best predict the loss of subsidized rental housing properties.
Click here [PDF] for a summary of these factors prepared by the National Housing Trust as a guide to "early warning systems" that can help identify properties at risk of loss. The National Housing Trust also maintains
inventories of properties participating in several of the largest federal subsidy programs. These inventories can provide states and localities with a good head start on their own databases of at-risk properties.
For more detail on how states and localities are using data collection to guide their preservation strategies,
click here [PDF] to read a research brief prepared for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation by Rebecca Cohen and Barbara Lipman of the Center for Housing Policy.
Through its Window of Opportunity Initiative, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will support data collection initiatives in Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio:
- Iowa - With much of its affordable housing stock more than 25 years old, Iowa faces the challenge of an oversupply of affordable housing in some areas where populations are declining, and an undersupply in areas with growing populations. Support from the MacArthur Foundation will be used to develop a comprehensive database of all subsidized properties, which will allow the state to allocate scarce resources strategically and recruit developers to preserve affordable rental properties in rural parts of the state.
- Minnesota - Over the next 10 years, 52,000 units of subsidized housing are at risk of being lost as subsidy contracts expire, properties physically deteriorate, and financial pressures increase. Minnesota will use support from the MacArthur Foundation to enhance its system for detecting properties at risk of losing their affordability in order to direct assistance and new funding towards preserving those rental homes.
- Ohio - High rates of unemployment and foreclosures have resulted in a steady increase in demand for affordable rental housing throughout the state. Ohio will direct funding from the MacArthur Foundation towards development of a new clearinghouse of information on federally-subsidized properties and coordination of assistance for tenants and affordable housing developers, including an acquisition loan fund.
Learn more about the Window of Opportunity initiative or about programs in Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio.
|
Back to top
Policy and program coordinationAs reflected in the lengthy list of policy options included in this section on rental housing preservation, there are many different policies that need to be put into place and many different actors whose cooperation needs to be arranged to ensure a successful rental housing preservation strategy. Through processes that facilitate cooperation and coordination, states and localities can develop more effective and coordinated preservation strategies and improve accountability through the ongoing tracking of progress. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has prepared a series of reports on "
potential tools in the affordable housing preservation toolbox," which draw connections between other policy documents, such as the HUD-mandated Consolidated Plan, and preservation goals. Incorporating a preservation agenda into these documents allows communities to strengthen their efforts and ensure that preservation initiatives align with other policy priorities.
In several localities, interagency councils have been formed to coordinate the activity of organizations engaged in preservation-related work and streamline funding applications and other processes for developers involved in preservation projects.
Notable examples include:
- The Cook County Interagency Coordinating Council is a part of the Preservation Compact (see Solutions in Action at right), a comprehensive affordable rental housing preservation initiative led by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Urban Land Institute. The Council was created to improve communication and cooperation across agencies and levels of government involved in preservation-related activities. Key partners include the Chicago Department of Housing, Cook County Government, Illinois Housing Development Authority, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Council also receives staff support from the Real Estate Center at DePaul University.
Members of the Council meet monthly to share ideas and to develop coordinated property preservation strategies and collaborative responses to issues of shared concern. A primary goal has been to create agreed-upon criteria for identifying high-risk properties and neighborhoods to monitor on an ongoing basis. Using information from the affordable rental housing Data Clearinghouse, which is maintained by the Real Estate Center, members have been able to identify 400 HUD-assisted properties in Cook County, of which 100 have been prioritized by the Council for additional evaluation. The Council is also working to link sellers of subsidized properties with interested buyers who will preserve the properties and maintain their affordability.
| Solutions in Action
|
The Preservation Compact is a coalition of public, private and nonprofit leaders dedicated to preserving the affordable rental housing stock in the Chicago region. In 2007, under the guidance of the Urban Land Institute and with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, they created a Rental housing Action Plan to preserve 75,000 units of affordable rental housing in Cook County by 2020.
The plan includes a number of innovative elements including an interagency council (see description at left) and a rental housing data clearinghouse. The interagency council will work to better coordinate government programs and improve information flow. The rental housing data clearinghouse will collect and maintain information on both subsidized and unsubsidized stock and serve as an early warning system for properties at risk of leaving the affordable market. Learn more about the Preservation Compact or read the plan, or click here to view a PowerPoint presentation on the Preservation Compact presented by Paul Shadle of DLA Piper at the 2009 Solutions for Working Families Learning Conference. |
- The Housing Development Consortium (HDC) is a not-for-profit trade association that brings together public development authorities, nonprofit housing developers, government agencies, and other members of the housing industry to promote the development and preservation of affordable housing in King County, Washington. "Affinity groups," organized for members by HDC, give organizations facing similar issues the opportunity to collaborate and develop shared solutions and proposals. The group also organizes stakeholder meetings, works to promote affordable housing legislation, and conducts outreach to improve community perceptions of affordable homes.
Click here to leave this site and learn more about the Housing Development Consortium
- Members of the Interagency Stabilization Group (ISG) in Minnesota's Twin Cities include representatives from the metropolitan area government and private sector affordable housing funders. The group was first convened in 1993 by the Family Housing Fund to coordinate funding and other efforts related to the preservation of affordable homes. Listen to the August 2008 HousingPolicy.org Out Loud podcast on rental housing preservation to learn more about the ISG.
Through its Window of Opportunity Initiative, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will support interagency policy coordination initiatives in Los Angeles, California; Maryland; and Massachusetts:
- Los Angeles, California - Nearly one-third of the subsidized housing stock in Los Angeles is at risk of losing its affordability in the next decade, including Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units that typically serve households most at risk of homelessness. The City of Los Angeles will use support from the MacArthur Foundation to align its various governmental agencies and their capital resources to implement a comprehensive preservation strategy, including building the capacity of developers with expertise in operating SROs.
- Maryland - Military base closures and the related relocation of 25,000 households will increase pressure on rents in 8 counties in Maryland. In response, the State will use funds from the MacArthur Foundation to create a Compact among state and local housing leaders to align efforts and identify preservation opportunities.
- Massachusetts - With the fifth most expensive rental market in the country and more than half of renters spending a disproportionate share of their income on housing, Massachusetts cannot afford to lose the 41,000 subsidized rental units whose affordability requirements expire in the coming decade. With support from the MacArthur Foundation, Massachusetts will form an interagency working group to coordinate state, federal, and local housing activities to identify and preserve these properties.
Learn more about the Window of Opportunity initiative or about programs in Los Angeles, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
|
Back to top
Outreach and technical assistanceBoth owners and tenants of multifamily properties need education about their options for preservation. They also may need technical assistance to take advantage of refinancing options, rights of first refusal, and other preservation tools. In Washington, D.C., for example, a broad group of technical assistance providers assist tenants and nonprofit organizations acquiring properties for preservation.
The Chicago Rehab Network, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) in Massachusetts, and the California Housing Partnership Corporation are just a few of the organizations providing capacity-building and technical assistance to sellers, buyers, residents, and officials participating in affordable rental housing preservations. Activities range from providing advocacy and policy development support to offering training workshops. Click on the following links to leave this site and learn more about the outreach and technical assistance work of: the Chicago Rehab Network, CEDAC, and the California Housing Partnership Corporation.
Window of Opportunity
With support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Window of Opportunity initiative, the State of Florida will provide technical assistance and other support to mission-driven organizations to preserve properties for extremely low-income households and people with special needs. Learn more about the Window of Opportunity initiative or click here to leave this site and learn more about Florida's program.
|
| 
Photo credit: John Booz, courtesy of Valerie Denney Communications
|
Outreach and education can be an important part of the solution even in communities that do not have specific local policies to preserve affordable rental homes. One way for communities to encourage preservation is simply to educate owners of federally assisted or insured housing about the latest incentives available from the federal, state, and local governments to facilitate the preservation of affordable homes. Federal incentives include
Mark-to-Market - a program for
project-based Section 8 properties with above-market rents that provides for restructuring at market rents, which may include an infusion of new capital for renovations; Mark-Up-to-Market - a program to allow project-based Section 8 properties with
below-market rents to raise their rents to market; and budget-based rent adjustments, which allow rent increases tied to certain increased expenses. (
Click here to learn more about key federal programs that help to preserve affordable rental homes.) Some states and localities, like Los Angeles, California and the state of New Jersey, have appointed a preservation coordinator or office to facilitate this work.
Back to top
