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Social Housing Framework

January 2025 (389 Words, 3 Minutes)

Introduction

In February 2025 we are publishing a new paper defining for ourselves and exploring the idea of Social Housing. Inspired by the Vienna model, we defined Social Housing broadly to mean housing owned, in part or in full, by the city government and financed with a variety of options that exist currently in capital markets and some new options demonstrated both domestically and abroad.

The guiding principles for this work are:

Public or community ownership as a foundation for long-term affordability and alignment with city goals pertaining to neighborhood development and growth.
Housing produced shall be affordable to a mix of incomes and meet a wide range of needs as identified by the city and its partners - examples include permanent supportive housing, housing for recently unhoused individuals and families, workforce housing, and even market rate housing to provide revenue stability across the portfolio.
Social housing will be prioritized near transit to provide the greatest access to opportunities and amenities for new residents as possible, and to provide long-term support and ridership for our most equitable and climate-friendly transportation network.
Social housing is a tool for desegregation and is not meant to replace existing affordable housing programs and organizations. It is meant to supplement what exists to bridge the gap between income-restricted affordable housing and market rate husing to not only be sustainable financially but to support mixed income communities.

Overview

Broadly, this paper covers the following topics:

The need for affordable housing

In nearly 1 quarter of the city’s census tracts, 30% or more of the households present are considered housing cost burdened.
- this totals over 45,000 households
41% of households across the broader metro area are cost burdened.
Cleveland’s 2030 Housing Plan, adopted in 2021, identified the need for 13,500 new rental units affordable to households across the income spectrucm.
Most Clevelanders rent their housing.

The opportunity

Despite Cleveland’s challenges, there are areas of the city that offer decent proximity to amenities needed in daily life (this is the city’s 15-minute city framework).
The city has a large inventory of land - the city land bank - with over 17,000 parcels.
By planning for and aligning resources such as zoning, financial incentives, and streamlined approvals in areas where land is available and proximate to transit and other essential locations (groceries, schools, healthcare, etc.), the city can begin to leverage what has long been a liability in neighborhoods - vacant land.
Established and invested partners, like local foundations, can be key partners in developing and marketing investment into a social housing portfolio. Case studies are presented of places that have already taken steps in this direction.
- GCRTA, the regional transit agency, is a key partner in this area too in that they have land (stations) and provide transit service.

The framework

Certain corporate structures, enabled by state law and empowered by local governments, can take advantage of financing structures unique to their form like extended tax abatements and tax increment financing tools known as a “urban redevelopment tax increment fund”.
The city can conduct a planning exercise to prioritize vacant city land using the 15-Minute City Index and TOD Zone.
Funders and financiers must be engaged to provide guidance and, hopefully, investment.