Sig4Wake

Solutions to Wake Affordable Housing Crisis

by  on Mon, Sep 11, 2017

Solutions to Wake County’s growing affordable housing crisis could require substantial new revenue and changes to county land-use policies, according to a draft presentation on the topic received Monday by the Board of Commissioners.

A study by consultants HR&A Advisors found that the county experiences a net loss of between 800 and 1,300 affordable units a year, despite city and county efforts that produce about 1,000 units. A current affordable housing shortfall of 56,000 units is expected to increase to 140,000 during the next two decades.

Sig Hutchinson, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said after the presentation that the county should budget an additional $10 million annually to affordable-housing efforts as part of a package of health and quality-of-life initiatives.

Hutchinson said he believes voters would endorse another quarter-cent sales-tax increase if asked to support the program in a 2018 referendum. The $10 million devoted to affordable housing would become a continuing source of funding.”Dollars beget dollars,” he said.

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