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Setting the Record Straight on Affordable Housing in Chapel Hill

A perspective from Paris Miller-Foushee

 

If there is one thing that most Chapel Hillians can agree on during this contentious election season it’s that the Town, like most of the U.S., has a very real affordable housing problem. Unfortunately, as has so often been the case during this election season, deliberate misinformation has been drowning out what has actually been happening. But as President John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” So lets look at the facts in Chapel Hill.

First, here are some of the dimensions of the problem in Chapel Hill, all taken from information prepared and/or vetted by Town staff and posted publicly.

  • Nearly 70% of renters, or approximately 5,700 households in Chapel Hill are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of gross income on housing costs. Of these, 3,700 households are severely cost burdened, meaning they spend 50% or more of gross income on housing costs.
  • Since 2010, Chapel Hill has seen a loss of over 1,800 homeowner households earning less than $150,000 annually, a 29% decrease. Households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 saw the biggest decrease in homeownership rates, decreasing by 42% since 2010.
  • From 2010-2021, Chapel Hill saw a net loss of 6% of Black renter households and 32% of Black homeowner households.

As can be seen, it is a serious and growing problem, made worse by the withdrawal of Federal and State funding for affordable housing and State regulations, such as the prohibition on involuntary rent controls or the Town’s inability to specify whether new housing must be rental or ownership.

Nonetheless, through the joint efforts of the Town and a roster of not-for-profit organizations including affordable housing developers, we have achieved impressive results.

  • Chapel Hill spends more per capita on affordable housing than any other municipality in the State.
  • Chapel Hill currently uses virtually every tool available to municipalities to secure affordable housing except for a revolving loan fund. And thanks to the Town’s negotiations with UNC Health regarding the Eastowne project, UNC Health is contributing $5 million as seed money for such a fund
  • The Town uses a combination of its inclusionary zoning ordinance and negotiations for voluntary commitments to secure units from developers
  • Working with affordable housing developers and using a combination of long-term leases of Town-owned land and cash subsidies, we secure other affordable housing
  • Over the past five years, the Town has secured more actual or committed affordable housing than all other Councils ever – 819 units
    • 332 of these units will be for sale, all permanently
    • 487 will be rentals, all affordable for a minimum of 30 years
  • Over the past five years the Town has used its inclusionary zoning ordinance and negotiations for voluntary commitments to secure 189 for sale units and 212 rental units
  • Over the same period, working with affordable housing providers we have secured 143 for sale units and 275 rental units, all permanently affordable
  • The Town does not provide operating subsidies for the affordable housing units it assists in creating; it does, however, provide funds for other affordable housing programs such as master leasing,  transitional housing, and contributions to the emergency housing fund

The bottom line is this: unfortunately, until the Federal State governments reenter the business of funding new affordable housing, we will remain in crisis. But Chapel Hill residents should take comfort in the fact that the Town is doing everything in its power, in a fiscally prudent manner, to relieve as much of the affordable housing crisis as it – or any town in North Carolina could – can. And I, for one, am extremely proud of its efforts.

“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.

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