Workforce Housing
Europe is considered to have more successful affordable housing programs - called social housing. This is a photo I took in London - how many of these people do you think live in social housing? Trick question! They’re all tourists.
What is workforce housing?
Affordable housing is normally for very low, low, or moderate income.
What about the people in the middle - those who cannot afford housing near their jobs, but have incomes that are too high to qualify for affordable housing?
Workforce housing is an increasing trend that defines these groups of people - they include teachers, public servants, police officers, etc.
Briefly, the most widely accepted AMI range for them is 60% to 120% AMI. This is supported by ULI, and some states such as New Hampshire. Other similar figures that are used often are 80% to 120%. The upper limit for this range is recommended by ULI to change according to the local housing market or local income levels - for example, it specifically recommends the AMI range in Los Angeles to go up to 150% to 200% because of high living costs.
On a federal level, there is no such thing as workforce housing. HUD only specifies income levels for very low, low and moderate income housing. But these are merely suggestions as well - it is up to the local or state jurisdictions to choose their own boundaries for affordable housing. They can either adopt HUD’s numbers, or choose their own entirely. I had to get this by interviewing a HUD economist.
Interestingly, CRA/LA (Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency) defines workforce housing as 120% to 175% of AMI. This makes it out of reach for affordable housing funds, which is limited at 120%. The upper limit does take into consideration Los Angeles’ high cost of living, but what about the lower limit?
It’s an up and coming trend to talk about workforce housing. It’s hard to research on because there are so many resources. Anyways, we will see how big of an issue it gets.
