Webinar on density bonuses for affordable homeownership
Thriving cities are working to accommodate affordable housing across the income spectrum, including “missing middle” housing such as for-sale starter homes. But despite those efforts, population growth in Washington State -- paired with a national trend of under-production in traditional “starter” homes -- is creating a crisis of supply that impacts teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, and other middle-class residents looking for a home in the cities where they work.
Density bonuses are a tool that municipalities can use to encourage the development of affordable for-sale homes. When combined with a requirement that the resulting homes be kept permanently affordable, a density bonus program can create a legacy of affordable homeownership that serves a city for decades.
What is a density bonus? How is it structured, and how can it be used to create affordable homeownership? This 90-minute webinar includes an introduction to permanently affordable homeownership, a model created by community land trusts but used increasingly by other affordable homeownership developers including some Habitat for Humanity affiliates. It includes a case-study of the City of Renton pilot density bonus project in partnership with Homestead Community Land Trust.
Speakers include:
· Ed Prince, Renton City Councilmember
· Carl Schroeder, Deputy Director of Government Relations, Association of Washington Cities
· Mark Santos-Johnson, Community Development & Housing Manager, City of Renton
· Clark Close, Senior Planner, City of Renton
· Kathleen Hosfeld, Executive Director, Homestead Community Land Trust
