City staff laid out numerous possible policies for preserving affordable housing in Alexandria and preventing tenant displacement at a meeting yesterday (Monday).
The city is seeking to update its 12-year-old Housing Master Plan with solutions to address needs over the next 15 years. In a virtual seminar on the Housing 2040 Master Plan, Housing Program Manager Tamara Jovovic and other staff members discussed dozens of possibilities based on input from stakeholders, literature reviews, public meetings and a survey of roughly 1,200 residents.
As rent continues to rise and hundreds of committed-affordable units are expected to expire in the coming years, Housing 2040 will provide guidance to city leaders on how to allocate funding and adopt housing policies, programs and projects.
Proposals for anti-tenant displacement
Displacement policies presented last night were divided into options that do and do not require state approval, as the state places limitations on localities through the Dillon Rule.
The following policies would not require state approval, according to the presentation.
- Provide access to legal information, including no-cost legal support for residents facing eviction
- Continue to fund emergency rental assistance
- Continue and enhance courthouse navigation and outreach efforts through Legal Services of Northern Virginia
- Implement emerging eviction intervention tools
- Implement policies that prioritize residents’ neighborhoods when developing new housing
- Expand culturally responsive outreach with non-English languages
- Offer city-sponsored relocation assistance to families forced to move because of demolition, rehabilitation, etc.
- Expand city rental subsidies
Through live polling, attendees appeared to favor emergency rental assistance and city rental subsidies the most.
On the flip side, the city would require legislative approval for the following eight desired policies.
- Ensure “just cause” evictions
- Cap rent increases (anti-rent gouging)
- Require rental payment plans
- Limit excessive “junk fees,” such as tenant fees for parking and pets
- Require a rental registry for landlords
- Establish the right to stay or return, in the event of displacement
- Require landlords to provide relocation funding and technical assistance during displacement events
- Enforce habitability standards, beyond code violations
Anti-rent gouging and fee limitations proved most popular for last night’s attendees, according to live polls.
Proposals for preservation
Proposals geared around the preservation of affordable housing — protecting existing housing’s affordability, livability and financial viability — came during the second half of the meeting.
The city approaches the topic with four “prongs”: acquisition, extending affordability, replacement and rehabilitation, City Housing Analyst Christopher Do said.
Each prong came with several recommendations, ranging from joint venture opportunities to preserve housing with local “anchor institutions” like churches, to offering tax relief to property owners to prioritize preservation. Other proposals pushed for energy efficient renovations and state legislative authority to use right of first refusal (ROFR), a measure previously vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
Among the policies that fared well in live polling were city-funded financial and technical assistance to property owners and extending affordability commitments at existing housing sites.
Preservation is crucial, Do said, as aging buildings may be more affordable to tenants but can ultimately lead to costly repairs. Roughly 20,750 rental units in Alexandria were built before 1984, with the median multi-family unit dating back to 1966.
“When you get less in rent, you have less money to tackle a lot of these challenges, and there’s less room, less margins to kind of front these costs,” he said.
Why it matters
The significance of Housing 2040 is underscored by rising rent costs, stagnant wages, aging affordable housing buildings and a landscape of dwindling market-rate affordable units and committed affordable units. Out of Alexandria’s roughly 42,000 multi-family rental units, only about 10,500 units are considered market affordable or committed affordable, as opposed to 18,000 recorded 25 years ago.
Over the next 15 years, the city could lose up to 900 more committed affordable units that are slated to expire.
The project’s timeliness is also reinforced by the upcoming arrival of Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D), whose housing platform includes “some legislative proposals that have been presented several years in a row” that the city anticipates are “likely to pass,” said Mary Horner, chief of the Landlord Tenant Division.
Housing 2040’s next “milestone,” a community meeting and open house, is scheduled in February, followed by a public hearing tentatively scheduled in June. The city will solicit community feedback through a public comment period until Dec. 30, Do said.
In the meantime, the Housing Affordability Advisory Committee plans to convene and seek public feedback during a 7 p.m. meeting on Thursday, Dec. 4.
