Legislation Says 'Aloha' to Affordable Homes in Hawai`i

Maui Now shares news from the Hawai`i State Legislature, where State Senator Stanley Chung has introduced a package of four bills that significantly alter the housing development equation in the state.

SB 1 would establish the ALOHA Homes program, which would "help develop low-cost homes on state-owned and county-owned land in urban redevelopment sites to be sold in leasehold by the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation to qualified residents."

SB 5 would create a payroll deduction program for state employees to create a housing savings account.

SB 733 "would designate all state-owned lands located within one mile of any rail mass transit station as important state lands to promote the development of homes priced below market rates for Hawaiʻi residents who are owner-occupants and own no other real property."

Finally, "SB740 would create the Department of Housing; and place the Hawai`i Community Development Authority, Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation, the State Office of Planning, and Hawaii Public Housing Authority under the Department of Housing for administrative purposes.

The Hawai'I Legislature already commissioned a feasibility study of the ALOHA Homes program in 2019, completed recently by the Hawai`i Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC).

State Senator Chung has been tweeting in support of housing reform in the state, addressing the state's high number of residential rental units, for example, and its slow rate of housing production relative to population growth.