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The Anne Arundel County Council is considering a bill to require moderately priced housing in new neighborhoods. A stock photo of somebody holding house keys is pictured above. (Shutterstock)
10-27-2023 1:12pm
Affordable Housing Could Be Required In New Anne Arundel County Neighborhoods
Jacob Baumgart
Editor
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD - New neighborhoods in Anne Arundel County could soon be required to build affordable housing units.
The County Council is considering a bill that would require developers to sell or rent a portion of their units at moderate prices.
Supporters argue that rents are up and home prices are growing faster than salaries. They think that incentivizes developers to build only high-priced options.
Rent increased by 21% from $1,566 per month in 2019 to $1,893 by the end of 2022. Median household incomes increased by 17% from 2017 to 2022, but median home prices are up 35% in that same span.
Opponents prefer freeing up zoning regulations to allow for more development. They think having more homes for sale would let the market settle itself naturally without government intervention.
County Executive Steuart Pittman, a Democrat, supports the affordable housing bill.
"I’m committed to facilitating the flexibility in our zoning code to diversify our housing stock," Pittman said Friday on Facebook, noting that other nearby counties have a similar affordable housing provision. "But if we continue to be one of the few counties in the region that allows the last of our developable land to be built out with luxury homes and apartments that half of our workforce can’t afford, our next generation will look back and say that we built an unsustainable future."
Pittman thinks the legislation would make 200 new homes and apartments per year available at moderate prices.
How It Would Work
The bill is called the "Essential Worker Housing Access Act of 2023," but anybody who has lived or worked in the county for at least a year could also apply for the new affordable housing.
If passed, all new developments with more than 10 units would need to designate 15% of rental units and 10% of for-sale units as moderately priced housing.
Pittman said these rental units would need to be affordable for those making 75% of the area's median income, which is $62,156 annually for a single person and more for families.
He said the units for sale would need to be affordable for those making 100% of the area's median income, which is $82,875 annually for a single person and more for families.
The affordable housing would then be available by application to households that meet the income requirements and have at least one member who has:
- Been a resident or employee in the county for at least a year
- Or is currently employed by Anne Arundel County or the City of Annapolis
- Or is currently employed as a teacher by the Board of Education
Buyers would have to show that they can secure financing, that nobody in the household has owned property in the county in the past three years and that this home would be their primary residence.
These rules would only apply to new developments, not existing ones.
Neighborhoods with 10 to 19 units could pay a fee to the county's Housing Trust Special Revenue Fund instead of offering moderately priced units. Communities with 20 or more units would not have this option. Those developments would have to make the affordable housing available.
Budget Officer Chris Trumbauer estimated that this legislation would cost the county about $5.8 million in revenue per year, a loss that would need to be made up elsewhere. This deficit would come from program management costs and lost revenue due to fee exclusions for the affordable housing units.
County Council Chair Pete Smith (D-District 1) introduced the legislation on Oct. 2 at Pittman's request.
Share Your Opinion
The public is invited to testify on Nov. 6 at a 7 p.m. hearing at the Arundel Center in Annapolis. Residents can learn how to testify at this link.
An affordable housing rally is scheduled before the meeting. Attendees will gather at 5:45 p.m. across the street at The People's Park, located at 43 Calvert Street.
The proposal, also called Bill No. 78-23, is posted here.
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Replies
C M
Neighbor
10-28-2023 8:56am
What a stupid idea. I don't disagree that housing prices are becoming unaffordable for many people in this county. It is a case of demand outstripping supply, which democrats for some incredulous reason, continue to fail to understand. Build more housing then, not distort the market with another ill-conceived government mandate. Do developers get anything in return for essentially giving away new housing units for free? This will raise development costs and make the county less appealing for developers to build new housing. They will just build someplace else, which could result in LESS new housing in the county in the future and fuel MORE demand for the housing that is available. And here's the lesson, dumocrats, when demand outstrips supply, that INCREASES housing prices. Why do you continue to push policies that assume the county exists in a static vacuum?
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Zae Gatzby
Neighbor
10-29-2023 10:58am
I don't believe that your proposed solution of building more housing is the only or best option.
One reason for this is that there are already many units being held empty, either as investment properties or vacation homes. According to a 2022 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there are 7.9 million vacant homes in the United States, while there are 11.2 million extremely low-income renter households. This suggests that there is already enough housing available to meet the needs of all Americans, but that it is not being distributed equitably.
Another reason to be skeptical of your solution is that it does not address the root causes of high housing prices, such as low wages, income inequality, and speculation in the housing market. Even if we build more housing, prices will remain high if people cannot afford to buy or rent it.
A better approach would be to implement policies that make housing more affordable for everyone, such as:
- Expanding access to affordable housing subsidies
- Enacting rent control measures
- Cracking down on speculative investment in housing
C M
Neighbor
11-01-2023 5:29pm
Low wages and income inequality are not causing high housing prices. Price is a reflection of market demand. The disparity between the income of some people and the market value (price) of available housing makes housing less affordable for them. There is a distinction there that is critical to understand. Simply giving a bunch of people more money so they can afford the same number of available houses (supply) will only increase demand (increased # of potential buyers) and raise prices. THE MARKET WILL RESPOND. If there is 1 widget available for sale and you and I both want that widget, but I really really want that widget so I offer more money to the seller than you, then the selling price of the widget goes up. Prices are not static or arbitrarily established. Remember the 2008 housing bubble, where they were giving virtually everyone a housing loan. Increased demand = increased housing prices. Or more recently, remember all of the helicopter money Biden and the democrats dumped into the economy, after trillions had already been dumped into the economy by the previous admin? THE MARKET RESPONDED, with higher prices because of higher demand (more people had more money to spend freely) without a corresponding increase in supply of goods and services. Low income people are now worse off than they were because any increases in income that were made were outstripped by larger increases in prices of the things that they had to buy. Government policy does not function in a vacuum. It will generate a response from factors that are outside of its control.
7.9M vacant homes across the entire country is not allot. What good is a vacant home in WV going to do you if you live in Baltimore and need a place to live? And 75% of of the area's median income for a single person that Pittman cites is hardly the same as the low income bracket that you are referring to. If houses are not selling or renting because nobody can afford to buy or rent, then prices will come down to a level that people can afford, because the people selling the houses HAVE to sell them. Your solution is to force private property owners to accept less compensation for their rental properties while the costs of insurance, maintenance and financing are allowed to float free? Or to punish someone for purchasing an investment property as a means to fund their retirement savings?
You can't use the government as a tool to fix anything you want anyway you want simply because you think things are unfair. Equality is one thing. Equity is another. It's akin to trying to thread a needle with a blunt object. You'll have nothing to show for it except a bunch of smashed thumbs.
C M
Neighbor
10-28-2023 9:06am
Here's an idea. Encourage developers of single story retail and commercial buildings to build housing on second and third floors and in return waive the permit fees and parking requirements for those units. This will increase housing AND reduce the impervious cover that would result from building that housing elsewhere.
Your Name
Neighbor
10-30-2023 3:20pm
Another stupid idea from Pittman. I don't think he has ever had a good one so far. THIS is a hair brained, dimwitted idea. It is how to ruin the county and towns in it as fast as possible. YES, housing prices are rising. Yes, it's difficult to find affordable housing but the concept of ruining the housing value of the homes already there but putting low income housing in is stupid and short sighted.....unless like other dems, he's trying to ruin the county that he is actually supposed to be helping. SMH.
