Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Stability

Like so many other communities across the country, Northern New York continues to face a severe affordable housing crisis that has hollowed out our communities as long-time residents are forced to out-migrate and prospective residents interested in relocating to Northern New York and building lives, careers and families look elsewhere.  The effects of this crisis wear on the entire fabric of our society, straining those threads integral to thriving and sustainable communities.  The following is my roadmap to alleviating the housing crisis.

1. Intelligent Rent Policies

• Rent control/freezes actually raise rents by reducing supply, limiting new development, and reducing funds for unit modernization.  Instead, we need to increase housing inventory and provide incentives and subsidies to update the aging housing supply that reduce rent pressures.

• Provide landlord incentives to improve rental unit energy efficiency that will lead to lower renter utility bills

• Promote construction of lower-cost rental units, such as single-structure, multi-unit properties: duplexes, triplexes, and quads.

• Reduce zoning restrictions to allow the construction of multi-unit properties within walking distance to downtown areas to accommodate renters with limited transportation access

• Support, expand and fully fund rental assistance programs to assist renters with getting caught up on back rent to reduce eviction rates

2. Increasing Housing Inventory

• Promote single and multi-family construction

• Prioritize duplex, triplex, and quad developments in job-rich, housing-poor areas

• Expand modular and manufactured housing options as affordable solutions

• Provide gap financing for qualifying projects

• Prioritize and incentivize housing development geared toward workforce residents.

3. Expanding the Housing Footprint Through Infrastructure

• Invest in sewer, water, roads, broadband, and utilities in rural areas that will unlock buildable land in underserved areas

4. Improving Aging Housing Stock

• Expand rehabilitation grants to modernize aging housing

• Support weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades

5. Employer-Provided Housing Incentives

• Support the construction of employer-owned workforce housing to reduce inventory stress

6. Supporting First-Time Homebuyers

• Down payment tax credits

• Lower mortgage insurance rates as equity builds

• Expand flexible credit qualification standards