County Planning Board to Launch Housing Analysis to Help Craft Affordable Measures

SILVER SPRING, MD – To help address the scarcity of affordable housing in Montgomery County, Planning Department research staff has proposed a series of presentations to the Planning Board that will create a detailed picture of the local housing stock.

Understanding the county’s existing houses – what’s affordable and where – will help the board determine how to both preserve and create more moderately priced homes. On Thursday, the board will decide on the scope and details of a housing education program, which it asked staff to develop as a way to scrutinize housing affordability and other housing issues in a county where median prices recently have skyrocketed.

Between 1995 and 2005, about 35,000 single-family detached homes in Montgomery County previously deemed affordable to median-income households vaulted into the unaffordable range. Households were defined as families of four, and in 1995, a median family income was $62,700; in 2005, median income reached $89,300.

The proposed Planning Board presentations are part of a plan to expand the housing section of the county’s General Plan, a forward-thinking document first published in 1964 and amended several times since that establishes policies to guide growth. The board likely will schedule a series of public work sessions throughout the spring on housing issues, then finalize a General Plan amendment by early summer.

Throughout the educational initiative, research staff will cover housing affordability and the preservation of affordable neighborhoods, among other issues. On Thursday, planners will provide a report on the existing housing supply and analyze recent demand for homes. The presentation will include the size, location and assessments of homes, in addition to rental properties.

A primary goal is to help understand why some neighborhoods stay affordable. To that end, staff have identified common characteristics of homes in affordable areas and analyzed neighborhoods where homes have become more costly.

Thursday’s report also will provide a snapshot of the stock of mandated affordable housing, including moderately priced dwelling units and workforce housing designed for public agency workers and others.

 

WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board

WHAT:
Affordable housing presentation

WHEN:
Thursday, February 14, approximately 2:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8700 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD