A Guide for Action: Risk Assessment Studies Facilitate More Efficient Rental Housing Preservation Efforts in Maryland
By Caitlin Jones
1 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, October 2011:
By Robert Lefenfeld, Real Property Research Group, Inc.
Advocates and policymakers have always struggled to address affordable housing needs with limited resources. With Congress leaning towards further cost-cutting and austerity measures, resources to support affordable housing are likely to become even scarcer in the future, making it critical to preserve existing assets in a more efficient manner.
With the assistance of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the state of Maryland has taken a market-based, proactive approach with its new BRAC Preservation Initiative program, a partnership between local and state governments. The aim has been to help nine Maryland counties and the state to identify and preserve the specific multifamily rental housing properties at greatest risk of being lost from the affordable housing stock due to population growth and new development caused by the expansion of existing military installations in these counties. Officials can prioritize the properties that they seek to preserve and target their resources to the most vulnerable candidates, proactively reaching out to owners beforehand rather than waiting to react to proposed market-rate conversions.
