Homeward Bound: Solving Philadelphia’s affordable housing issues is going to require creativity

By Denise Clay-Murray

Elections are an opportunity for citizens to choose the people they think will best represent their interests. Many of these citizens prioritize their decisions based on issues that matter most to them, and some of them are single-issue voters. But how do single-issue voters know who to vote for — in which elections, and at what levels of government?

Affordable housing is an issue that affects millions, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimating the country has a deficit of 4.7 million affordable homes. For people who want to weigh in on this issue at the ballot box, the approach isn’t as simple as pulling the lever in one election. Like many thorny issues, affordable housing matters are dealt with at the local, state, and federal levels.

Recently, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker touted the successes of her Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E. program.

The $2 billion program has a goal of building and repairing 30,000 housing units. According to the Parker Administration, 16,000 have been connected to preservation programs like the Basic Systems Repair Program, and the rest have either been new apartments or homes constructed on city-owned land under the Turn The Key program, a home ownership initiative for first-time homebuyers that predates the H.O.M.E. program.

But while that’s good news for homeowners and potential homeowners, it’s not enough for people like Carlos C. Boothe, Sr. Boothe is one of the 3,000 tenants that could lose their homes if Jim Levin, the owner of Neighborhood Restorations, makes good on his intention to sell his 925 properties in West and Southwest Philadelphia.

If these properties, which were built under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, were to go for market rates, people like Boothe, a senior citizen on a fixed income, would have a problem finding a new place to live. The LIHTC designation on 225 of those units has already expired, and the residents that occupy those units are facing homelessness, Boothe said.

“Market-rate rentals would be devastating for myself and others in my situation,” Boothe said. “Housing costs are rapidly increasing in Southwest Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and Philadelphia as a whole. Retired, senior citizens, low-income residents and handicapped citizens are struggling financially daily to live. If my building loses its subsidy, where do we go?”

Right now, many of Philadelphia’s leaders are looking for ways to solve the problem of affordable housing in America’s second-poorest big city. The average market rate rent ranges from $1,200 to $1,488 for a studio apartment to $1,900 to $3,520 a month for a three-bedroom place, according to the website Rent Café.

Over the last few weeks, reports from Philadelphia City Council’s Cost of Living Task Force, the Housing Initiative at Penn and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency have shown that the city could lose anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 units of affordable housing over the next 10 years as LIHTC housing credits expire.

While that identifies the problem, the question becomes, whose responsibility is it to solve it?

As it turns out, there is something that all branches of government — the city, the state and the federal government — can do.

Let’s start with the federal government: Federal funding and tax incentives have played and will continue to play a big part in solving Philadelphia’s affordable housing issues.

Some of what the federal government can and cannot do has been impacted by cuts in federal subsidies due to the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill. But there have been some efforts at that level.

Outgoing Congressman Dwight Evans introduced a bill with his Republican colleague, Bucks County Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, that would expand the LIHTC and include more money to develop accessible housing for seniors and people with disabilities. Because the House of Representatives is currently on hiatus for the midterm elections, there’s no details on where this bill stands now.

According to the Penn/Pennsylvania Housing study, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania stands to lose 43,000 units of affordable housing across the Commonwealth. The Shapiro Administration has been pushing for a $1 billion critical infrastructure fund that would support housing construction as part of the Housing Action Plan. The 10-year-plan calls for 450,000 new housing units by 2035.

When Council passed the budget for the H.O.M.E. program in December, it included increased funding for affordable housing preservation programs. The Cost-of-Living Task Force report calls for that funding to go toward purchasing units like the ones at Neighborhood Restorations so that they can be maintained as affordable housing. It also calls for funds to help renters purchase homes whose LIHTC credits are expiring.

If the city can find a home for a fictional boxer, the least it can do is help retain homes for its citizens, Boothe said.

“ can act now to stop this,” he said. “The statue of Rocky has a permanent home in this city. How about its residents?”