“AHOT” to save “NOAH”

This Thursday at City Council there is a resolution for Austin to create a fund, “AHOT” for the preservation, or enhancement of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) and funding mechanisms to prevent the net loss of affordable housing (Item 41).   This resolution will add a variety of precise tools to cover areas where the city’s response could be more robust in preserving socially valuable affordable housing stock. This program is based upon a  Dallas  (Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund )  Fund.   Council Member Duchen was the driving force to bring this forward.  You can view his in depth presentation on Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing here.

The seed money would come from the 2018 Affordable Housing Bonds and Austin would build the funds from Philanthropic sources, private donations and capital investment and future possible bonds.

The resolution asks the city to report and review NOAH properties and their preservation and their replacement with new development.   The city will The seed money would come from the 2018 Affordable Housing Bonds and Austin would build the funds from Philanthropic sources, private donations and capital investment and future possible bonds report the number  of units renting below certain price thresholds that will be destroyed as part of developments that require a zoning change or seek participation in a density bonus program.   In the case of the Acacia Cliffs rezoning which we reported on, there was a large net loss of affordable housing in the rezoning that included participation in the DB90 density bonus program This Thursday at City Council there is a resolution for Austin to create a fund, “AHOT” for the preservation, or enhancement of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) and funding mechanisms to prevent the net loss of affordable housing (Item 41).   This resolution will add a variety of precise tools to cover areas where the city’s response could be more robust in preserving socially valuable affordable housing stock. This program is based upon a  Dallas  (Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund )  Fund.   Council Member Duchen was the driving force to bring this forward.  You can view his in depth presentation on Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing here..

The resolution also asks for city staff to review displacement compensation provided to tenants when a property owner participates in a density bonus program.

This is a first step towards stopping the loss of existing market rate affordable housing in Austin.