The Workforce Housing Coalition

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BRIDGING THE GAP
Southwest Florida Regional Housing Needs
Assessment and Strategic Document
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Presentation Outline

• What is the Community Housing Subcommittee?
• Goals of the Community Housing Subcommittee
• How did we get here?
• Solutions at the community level

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What Is The Community Housing Subcommittee?

• A collaboration of Regional and Local government
  along with interested resource parties created In
  February of 2005
• Serves the community and region by helping people
  access affordable housing resources
• A catalyst for the development of affordable
  housing programs and opportunities for very low,
  low, and moderate income families of Southwest
  Florida

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Goals of the Community Housing Subcommittee

• Draft legislation that requires affordable
  housing be classified as infrastructure in the
  Growth Management Plans and meets measurable
  outcomes
• Provide resource persons for outreach to local
  government
• Host regional meetings to assess and discuss
  affordable housing in the region
• Catalogue success stories and share ideas on how
  to address the affordable housing need

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Goals of the Community Housing Subcommittee

• Promote new methodologies that measure the
  regional supply and demand for affordable
  housing, particularly related to DRI
• Serve as a repository of information on
  affordable housing and
• Collaborate with local housing staff, elected
  officials and the Legislature to formulate new
  housing polices and recommendations.

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What is Affordable Housing?

• A variety of housing options for very low, low,
  and moderate income families
• Typically a housing unit is considered affordable
  if it costs no more than 30 of the familys
  monthly income
• Examples include.

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Rental Apartments
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Condominiums
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Single Family Homes
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How Did We Get Here?

• The Evolution of the Housing Shortage

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Affordability Gap Developed

• Housing cost increase dramatically
• Wages remain fairly constant

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The Cost of Housing

• Sharp increases during 2004 in home prices and
  lack of growth in household incomes, making
  houses less affordable
• Despite the continuous increase of permit
  activity in the past several years, affordably
  priced housing continues to decline

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The Cost of Housing

• High construction and land costs
• Increasingly complicated and expensive regulatory
  environment
• Impact Fees
• Rising cost of services and infrastructure

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What Does Affordable Mean

• Sarasota (MSA) Median Family Income-55,900
• Affordable Home Price-198,999
• Median Home Price-347,400
• Collier (MSA) Median Family Income
• Affordable-225,343
• Median Home Price- 500,800

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The Cost of Housing

• Average home prices in the region reach new highs
  in 2005
• Naples MSA - 491,400
• Fort Myers Cape Coral - 281,000
• Punta Gorda - 216,500
• Sarasota - 336,800

Between 2004 and 2005, average home prices
increased by approximately 32 percent across the
Region
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Who is affected by the housing shortage?
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Why is Workforce Housing Needed?
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Housings Connection to the Economy
A Strong Diverse Housing Infrastructure
Increases Spending in Community
Attracts/Retains Businesses
Attracts/Retains Workers
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Housings Connection to Quality of Life

• A good jobs-housing balance is an important
  strategy for
• decreasing commuting time and highway impacts
• reducing pollution
• increasing citizens connection to their
  community
• Diverse neighborhoods make for healthy
  communities

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Achieving an increase in affordable housing
requires

• Increased educational outreach
• Community acceptance
• Partnerships with financial institutions,
  non-profits, builders and government
• Promotion of best practices
• Smart Growth development practices
• Legislative
• Regulatory

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Laying the groundwork for regulatory strategies
Does the Comprehensive Plan
Specifically refer to affordable, workforce
housing as a priority?
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Zoning and land use regulations influence

• Patterns of development
• Lot Sizes
• Density
• Street right of way and
• Pavement width reductions
• Parking space allotment
• Type and size of housing product
• Setbacks and Footprint restrictions
• Mixture of uses allowed
• Conventional Zoning Districts
• PUDs
• Accessory Apartments

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Zoning and land use regulations influence

• Developer costs
• Permit Fees
• Impact Fees
• Permit by Right
• Administrative Approvals Vs. Public Hearing
• Take the Politics out of it!

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Other ways for municipalities to increase
affordable housing opportunities

• Resale restrictions
• Inclusionary zoning
• Streamline permitting/review process
• Encourage non-profit housing developers
• Donate municipally-owned land
• Create a Housing Trust Fund

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Innovative Solutions in Other States

• Regional Infrastructure Fees
• Linkage Fees
• Inclusionary Housing
• Historic Preservation Tax Credit
• Redevelopment Programs
• Density Bonus
• Urban Growth Boundaries

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Innovative Solutions in Other States

• Market-Based Responses
• Housing Trust Funds
• Employer Housing Partnership
• Property-Based Responses
• Resale Restrictions
• Equity Sharing for longer term tenants

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Whats the Downside?

• Decline in the Quality of Life
• Out Migration
• Residents
• Companies/Employers
• Loss of diversity
• Loss of job growth
• Increase in homelessness and social service needs
• Impacts Road Capacities

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Questions?
and thank you!