Everything you need to know about local affordable housing processes, plus six developments we’re keeping an eye on.
To get affordable housing in Allegheny County, you’ll first need to figure out what makes any given rental unit affordable.
Some units are priced affordably because they’re created and managed by developers in exchange for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), which reduces the developer’s federal tax liability.
Some standard market apartments accept housing choice vouchers, which, if applied for and obtained by the applicant completely independently from their apartment search, can cover part or all of their rent with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.
Other units are set aside for tenants who obtain project-specific vouchers, which place recipients in an individual HUD-funded property.
Beyond the fractured application processes, some residences might also serve only certain communities — veterans, individuals over 60, single parents — further adding to the dubiousness.
Once you’ve finished with the paperwork, then it’s time to wait.
Ed Nusser, Allegheny County’s director of housing strategy, says the waitlists for each of these programs are massive.
“It is a lot of a burden to put on an individual who’s just trying to find stable, affordable shelter,” Nusser says. “It’s like, ‘get all your paperwork together and keep it together because you’re going to need it six more times!’”
“We simply don’t have enough affordable housing units. The city’s Housing Needs Assessment speaks clearly to that.”
“…“But at the same time, there are always things we can do to make that process better for folks,” Nusser says. “We’re continually looking at how we build a better ecosystem to serve individuals that need affordable housing so they can spend less time scanning and sending documents and more time finding apartments that work for their family.”
To read the entire article, and learn more about Lytle Street Apartments, that will be available exclusively to single parents pursuing college degrees through the Pittsburgh Scholar House’s Housing Program, click here.