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Old Posted Jan 17, 2016, 2:27 AM
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Proposed Blight Solution: Shift Subsidies from Rent to Ownership

Peduto administration pitches use of Section 8 funds to subsidize home ownership


January 9, 2016

By Chris Potter/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read More: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/ci...s/201601100118

Quote:
As a Rust Belt city on the upswing, Pittsburgh faces an unusual paradox. While long-struggling communities like East Liberty revitalize, residents worry about finding affordable housing … even though they may live just down the street from long-vacant homes.

- Mayor Bill Peduto hopes the federal government will help him match that housing supply with the low-income families who need it most, under a proposal his administration calls “Bridges Beyond Blight.” “There are no guarantees,” Mr. Peduto said, but “this could be a program ... the whole nation could look to.” -- Mr. Peduto’s proposal envisions repurposing money allocated through the federal Section 8 rental-subsidy, under which low-income families pay 30 percent of their income to a landlord, and a voucher pays the balance of the rent.

- Mr. Peduto wants to subsidize homeownership instead, taking the anticipated value of 30 years’ worth of one household’s vouchers to purchase and renovate a home. Public housing officials would select the homes and finance the work, then set up buyers with a mortgage whose payments would also be set at 30 percent of their income. That could, in effect, kill two birds with one loan, expanding affordable housing while reducing blight.

- The administration also envisions rehab work being carried out by community-based developers, creating what policy staffer Alex Pazuchanics called a “triple equity-building” approach: “Equity for individuals, equity for workers who are doing the redevelopment, and equity for the community.” --- Mr. Peduto first broached the idea with President Barack Obama in July, when he and the president shared a limo ride from the airport with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

- City agencies already offer programs to help lower-income families purchase homes, but “this concept would allow us to target blighted properties,” said David Weber, chief operations officer for the city’s Housing Authority. While the proposal is still in the conceptual stage, community-development experts are enthusiastic, partly because home ownership can reduce price-pressures on low-income residents when a neighborhood is redeveloped. --- “A rising tide lifts all boats — if you have a boat. Renters don’t,” said Kendall Pelling, director of land recycling at East Liberty Development Inc.

- Bridges Beyond Blight would not be a cure-all, and hurdles remain. Some families lack the financial or physical means to maintain a home, and due to federal regulations, Mr. Pelling said, “every time a HUD dollar hits a project, it creates complications.” It can also be hard to predict the cost of rehabilitating deteriorating homes, which may harbor unexpected problems behind the walls or in the basement. Still, neighborhood advocates say the idea is worth pursuing.

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Old Posted Feb 15, 2016, 11:27 AM
thomaswhite544 thomaswhite544 is offline
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Thank you so much for sharing this information.
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