Columbus City Council today announced a series of new initiatives designed to tackle the city’s growing affordable housing crisis. The long list of programs and policies, many of which complement the housing strategy laid out by Mayor Andrew Ginther last summer, was unveiled during an event in Linden at a new home built by the Central Ohio Community Land Trust.
The actual implementation of the different initiatives will take place “over the next 9-16 months,” according to a press release, and the councilmembers assigned to each one will hold public meetings and conduct other types of outreach before legislation is formally drafted and voted on.
“As a part of the city’s overall housing strategy, council is rolling out a package of housing policy,” said Council President Shannon Hardin, in the release. “These policies aim to help working-class families build wealth, strengthen tenant protections, and prepare Columbus for projected population growth. This is the start of a community conversation so we need to hear from stakeholders, residents, and more to improve these ideas.”
Like the mayor’s plan, the council-led initiatives have been grouped into three different categories – investment, preservation, and inclusion. Here’s a rundown of what we know about the elements included in each category (quotes come from the information provided by City Council).
Investment:
- Establish an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Pilot Program. Council approved funding in February to hire Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design to work as a consultant on the effort. The overall program will focus on “the creation of affordable accessory dwelling units on lots that currently house one single-unit dwelling.”
- Create more opportunities for homeownership within communities that have been disenfranchised or redlined.
Preservation:
- Establish new license requirements and regulations to prevent predatory practices among real estate wholesalers.
- Create a registry of vacant and foreclosed properties.
- Expand home repair grants to homeowners as part of a new “Owner/Occupied Initiative Program”
Inclusion:
- Establish an Office of Fair Housing to “hold landlords/property owners accountable and to protect the rights of tenants.”
- Pass new “Pay to Stay” legislation to give residents time to secure rental assistance without the threat of eviction.
- Pass new “Third Party Payment” legislation that would require landlords to accept payment on behalf of a tenant as long as the tenant is not in breach of their rental agreement.
- Provide more funding to pay for tenant legal costs (council provided $1.5 million in 2022 for more legal representation at eviction court, this would extend the program another year).
- Amend legislation passed in 2018 to strengthen language on retaliatory action.
- Pass new legislation requiring that tenants receive at least a 180-day notice of planned rent increases.
- Establish a Columbus Rental Registry and a new rental registration fee, which would generate “millions of dollars [to be] used for rental assistance, thus providing an ‘insurance policy’ for landlords.”
Councilmember Shayla Favor, chair of the Housing Committee, will take the lead on seven of the 12 initiatives.
“The approaching housing crisis threatens the stabilization of families and more specifically families of low-income, and Black and Brown families.” said Favor, in a statement. “With these housing initiatives, City Council is acknowledging the challenges the housing crisis presents and outlining our commitment to providing tangible solutions.”
More information on the city’s housing strategy is available at columbus.gov.