Section 10-A502. POLICIES AND ACTIONS H-1 HOMES FOR AN INCLUSIVE CITY

 

502.1This section of the Housing Element addresses housing production, both for market rate and affordable units. 502.1

 

502.2The District must increase its rate of housing production if it is to meet current and projected needs through 2025 and remain an economically vibrant city. Over the next 20 years, the District’s housing stock is forecast to increase from a base of about 280,000 in 2005 to 335,000 units in 2025. Between 2005 and 2010, 10,000 new units are expected, based on projects that are now under construction or soon to break ground. The remaining new units - 45,000 in total - will be needed by 2025 to improve the longterm balance between demand and supply. This is equivalent to 3,000 new units per year. This is significantly higher than the rate of production experienced during 2000-2005. However, the city permitted 2,860 units in 2005, indicating this target is not out of reach. 502.2

 

502.3As noted in the Land Use and Framework Elements, the city already has the land resources to meet this demand. But land alone is not enough to ensure the production of housing. And housing production alone does not guarantee that a portion of the new units will be affordable. 502.3

 

502.4A multi-pronged strategy is needed to facilitate production, address regulatory and administrative constraints, and ensure that a substantial number of the new units added are affordable to District residents. Many of the basic tenets of this strategy were established by the 2006 Comprehensive Housing Strategy and are reiterated in the text box on the following page. 502.4

 

The overarching goal for housing is: Develop and maintain a safe, decent, and affordable supply of housing for all current and future residents of the District of Columbia.

 

502.5The Comprehensive Housing Strategy 502.5

 

In 2003, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the “Comprehensive Housing Strategy Act,” creating a Task Force charged with developing recommendations on the housing needs of current and future residents of the District. The 28-member Task Force, was specifically asked to explore strategies for preserving and creating mixed income neighborhoods; assessing the quality, availability, and affordability of rental housing; creating home ownership opportunities; preventing displacement; assessing special needs housing; promoting workforce housing; and increasing the District’s population by 100,000 residents.

 

The 2006 Task Force report presents seven basic recommendations for improving housing affordability and growing the population. Foremost among these is the production of 55,000 new housing units, including 19,000 affordable units, and the preservation of at least 30,000 existing affordable units. The report includes strategies to increase the home ownership rate, provide direct assistance to 14,600 low income renter households, and include affordable housing in the “new neighborhoods” to be developed during the next 15 years. The report emphasizes the need to build the city’s administrative capacity for housing production, and to enact complementary programs to improve neighborhood services to attract and retain residents. The cost of these recommendations is estimated at $300 million per year over 15 years.

 

Many of the strategies in the Housing Strategy have been carried forward into this Housing Element. This is an important step toward their implementation, and will move the city one step closer to achieving its housing goals.

 

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The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.