While change over time is inevitable, it is important to weigh the benefits of future development against negative impacts to a community’s significant assets, and identify compromises or ways to mitigate these impacts if they are necessary. Such assets can include existing affordable housing, historic buildings, beloved neighborhoods, protecting homeowners from foreclosure, and more. At the same time, this should not be done at the absolute expense of new housing supply, as a relatively even turnover of the housing stock over time encourages diversity of age and condition, an important affordability variable – today’s new buildings become more affordable over the following decade, and so on. An additional concern for preserving existing affordable housing is in ensuring conditions remain safe and decent.
Assessing Needs and Performance in this Area
- Percentage of homeowners spending more than 30% of income on housing
- Change in market rents and home sale prices
- Assessor’s data on value and condition
- Housing vacancy
- Rapid change in jobs-housing balance, change in type of local jobs (as indicator for either increased pressure on housing supply or dropping demand)
- Unemployment
- County affordable housing database – expiring housing assistance (Coming soon!)
Tools in this Category
- Community Land Trust
- Community Partnerships (with nonprofit and for-profit developers, housing authorities, etc.)
- Direct Household Assistance (includes rent assistance, foreclosure resources, home purchase assistance, and home maintenance and weatherization assistance)
- Form-Based Zoning
- Land Banking
- Manufactured and Modular Housing
- Transfer of Development Rights
More Information
- HousingPolicy.org: Preserve and Recycle Resources
- Preservation Green Lab
- PSRC: Preservation and Rehabilitation (Includes links to many other outside sources)
- Prezcat: Online, searchable catalog of state and local housing preservation policies
Areas for Future Research
- What portion of our affordable market rate housing is substandard?