Advocate

Housing Solutions Council works to educate our community on the importance of attainable housing, how to advocate for meaningful policies to increase the availability of housing that is attainable for our workforce.

There is an identified gap of housing that is affordable to local households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $60,000. We continue to meet with members of the community, local and state representatives to increase awareness of this housing gap.

Here’s a short Glossary that is helpful to know when discussing this issue:

• Affordable – Generally accepted classification that defines when housing costs are no more than 30 percent of household income.
• Area Median Income (AMI) – The estimated median income, adjusted for family size, by metropolitan area (or county in nonmetropolitan areas) that is adjusted by HUD annually and used as a basis of eligibility for most housing assistance programs. This number is also used to delineate the various programs for housing. (In Martin County, the current AMI is $67,500.)
• Elderly/Senior Housing – Residential developments restricted to tenants age 62 or older, or 80 percent of occupancy by at households with at least on person 55 or older.
• Fair Market Rent (FMR) – An amount determined by HUD to be the monthly cost of modest, non-luxury rental units in a specific market area.
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the federal government.
• Infill Development – The practice of building on vacant or undeveloped parcels, especially urban and suburban neighborhoods. This promotes compact development, which in turn allows undeveloped land to remain open and green.
• Smart Growth – The term used to refer to a rapidly growing movement that calls for a more coordinated, environmentally sensitive approach to planning and development that calls for more efficient land use, compact development patterns, less dependence on automobiles, a range of housing opportunities and choices, and improved jobs/housing balance.