DC Affordable Housing Faces ‘Existential Crisis’

Washington, D.C. affordable housing developers are sounding the alarm as many of them face foreclosures and budget shortfalls. As Jon Banister explains in Bisnow, “The owners of tens of thousands of income-restricted apartments are at risk of losing their properties, jeopardizing the future of affordable housing in the nation's capital.”

Local developers say the entire industry is at risk of collapse. “More than 80% of housing properties that have received D.C. funding aren't bringing in enough rental income to pay their mortgages and maintenance costs, according to the District's Department of Housing and Community Development.”

“The scale of the crisis is viewed as existential: 22,000 units that house 48,000 vulnerable residents are at risk of foreclosure today, according to DHCD.” The District’s affordable housing developers currently face $12.7 million in rent delinquencies and blame pandemic-era policies for an extended eviction process.

District Council Member Robert White says “the industry has reached a ‘crisis point,’ and he is working to figure out what policy changes the council can make to help fix the issue and prevent more housing operators from shutting down. White is considering proposing changes to pandemic-era eviction policies and searching for more money to deploy to tenants who can’t pay rent.”