STRENGTHEN AND GROW YOUR COMMUNITY TAKE ACTION ON HOUSING
How is your housing market functioning? Safe, stable, and desirable housing is an important foundation for both individual success and community health. But for many residents of our communities, it’s been getting harder. Housing costs have been increasing faster than incomes for decades. And, in the wake of the Great Recession, housing developers have tended to focus on the projects that are easiest to finance, leaving noticeable gaps in the market. These trends have resulted in fewer housing options in many communities, affecting both existing residents and employers trying to attract staff. Local governments are finding that they need to take an active role to balance housing supply with community needs.
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OUR HOUSING EXPERIENCE MSA’s professional housing planners are experienced in identifying market gaps and leading discussions about how to close those gaps. Every municipality is different. We start every housing plan or study with a blend of detailed market data analysis and interviews with key local experts, then we tailor our approach to meet your need and your concerns. Are you lacking housing to meet the recruiting needs of a growing employer? Are you struggling to get people to invest in aging homes? Are you wrestling with public anxiety about new rental housing? Is something discouraging the development of new homes? We respond to the specific issues you want to address.
HOUSING STUDIES, ASSESSMENTS AND PLANS Most communities consider housing as part of a Comprehensive Plan, but rarely to a level of detail that gives elected officials and residents confidence to pursue specific housing strategies. Local governments are increasingly utilizing stand-alone plans or studies focused on housing to get detailed analyses and options for action. We complete assessments and studies when clients just want data and ideas to better understand the local market but aren’t ready to adopt an official housing plan. Alternatively, some communities desire a housing plan that is officially adopted as policy by elected officials. In those cases, we typically do more public engagement in the community to facilitate discussion and share knowledge about potential policies, working with residents on both data and strategy.
HUD-REQUIRED PLANS AND STUDIES Housing and economic development are the cornerstones of community development. Entitlement communities must complete an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice every five years to identify and alleviate barriers in the housing market. Each community must also complete a Consolidated Plan every five years to set goals and priorities for how it will spend or distribute allocated funding.
MSA is deeply experienced in satisfying these HUD requirements, including use of HUD’s proprietary data systems. We know HUD expectations and we track changes to requirements and rules that may influence your plans. Whether you are working on just one of these pieces or the entire suite of HUD requirements, we can help you analyze needs and direct that funding for the greatest impact.
We work with clients to review a variety of factors within local control that could be affecting housing supply and cost, including: • Zoning regulations • Land use planning and comprehensive plan policies • Development review fees and processes • Impact fees and park fees
AFFORDABILITY
We also help communities identify impediments to housing market health and affordability and select strategies to eliminate those impediments. There are many strategies to consider, such as: • Balanced, mixed-income neighborhoods • Accessory dwelling units • Inclusionary zoning requirements or incentives • Land banking • Community land trusts • Partnerships with non-profit organizations
Many communities are currently talking about housing affordability, especially for households earning 60% to 100% of the area median income. Affordability is a factor in a community’s economic development strategy, as the community’s housing stock can be an asset or a road block to employee recruitment and retention, either helping or harming business growth. Ensuring a supply of acceptable housing options affordable below the area median income often requires some sort of funding subsidy, though this is not always the case and shouldn’t be the only approach to managing housing costs.
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FUNDING SOURCES FOR HOUSING There are numerous local, state and federal funding mechanisms that can support housing development of all types. In some cases, MSA is directly involved in writing grant applications, administering TIF district incentives or managing housing rehab programs, while in others we help point the community (and developers) in the right direction. If your community is interested in addressing housing affordability, MSA can help you become familiar with the following funding tools and techniques. Note that the availability and/or legality of these tools varies from state to state – MSA will help you identify the options available in your community. • Tax Incremental Finance Development Incentives • Affordable Housing Tax Credits (state & federal) • Historic Preservation Tax Credits • Opportunity Zone Funding • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Housing Rehab Grants and Loans • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Grants and Loans • Housing and Economic Development Authority Financing • Tax Exempt Bonding • Municipal/EDA/HRA Bonding
BEFORE
AFTER
Facade improvements funded through the CDBG Housing Rehabilitation program
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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER MSA’s professional housing planners are backed by the support of an in-house team of architects, engineers, surveyors, funding specialists and environmental professionals who know how to develop your land assets from the ground up. From master planning through the entitlement process, detailed site design, building design, landscape design, and construction management. Our diverse team shares one project vision and works with your team to address both the big challenges and the minor details. Diverse housing options are essential to healthy, thriving communities, and we believe that local government plays an important role in planning for and guiding investment. We can help you understand your market, offer realistic options for local action that can adjust the market, and can facilitate public discussions about which policies are the right fit for your community.
Let’s start a conversation. www.msa-ps.com | (800) 362-4505