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Housing
County approves millions toward emergency rental assistance
The county is receiving $10.7 million in federal relief funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, designated for an emergency rental assistance program, or ERAP. In January it was announced that the county would receive the…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Mar 10, 2021
Home repair funds increased to fix storm damage
In response to the unprecedented damage to homes caused by winter storm Uri, Austin Water has transferred $1 million to the city’s Housing and Planning Department to help Austinites repair ruptured water lines. The city already had a program to help…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Feb 24, 2021
Planning commissioners: We’re not building enough affordable housing
Planning commissioners expressed concern this week about the lack of progress made toward the city’s affordable housing production goals. The discussion followed a presentation of the recently released Strategic Housing Blueprint Scorecard, which shows how much affordable housing has been…
Housing • By Jonathan Lee • Feb 11, 2021
Austin and Travis County extend eviction bans (again), say more rent help is coming
Citing a continuing public health crisis that could only worsen if people have to leave their homes, Austin-area officials have extended protections against most evictions through April 1. “Keeping people inside and housed curbs the spread of the virus,” Travis…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 29, 2021
County endorses Decker Lake affordable housing project
The Travis County Commissioners Court held a public hearing Tuesday regarding a developer’s application for a Resolution of No Objection for the Decker Lake Apartments, which, if approved, will be located on Decker Lake Road, adjacent to the Travis County…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Jan 14, 2021
The city is closing shelters it set up for homeless Austinites during Covid. Residents want to know when.
Last Wednesday, Helen Davis was in St. Louis, tired, sore and 825 miles from home without bus fare or a place to stay. As cars whizzed by, she wracked her brain, trying to think of an excuse – something to…
Housing • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Dec 21, 2020
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Austin created a program to pay struggling tenants’ rent. Some say it added to stress.
Petra Antonio and her husband, Domingo Quiroz, got Covid-19 in September. Antonio said she felt OK, but Quiroz had a fever and a cough that kept him awake at night. He wanted to avoid going to the hospital, because he…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 7, 2020
Hinojosa tries again for inclusionary zoning
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, is trying once again to repeal the state law that prevents Texas cities from using an affordable housing tool known as inclusionary zoning. Inclusionary zoning programs allow cities to require developers to provide housing for…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Dec 1, 2020
Concerned that money will go unspent, Austin makes changes to its rent help program
Renters affected financially by the Covid-19 pandemic can now apply for up to six months of rent from the city’s rent assistance program, where previously they could apply for only up to three. The change comes as the city worries…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 2, 2020
Austin's got millions to help with rent, but giving it away is harder than expected
The city of Austin says fewer people have applied for rental assistance than expected. It’s given out just $1.3 million so far of roughly $13 million available for tenants hit financially by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The need that was anticipated…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Oct 23, 2020
Affordable housing proposals advance after outcry over gentrification, institutional racism
Charges of institutional racism and bias in housing policy engulfed a pair of votes at the Austin Housing Finance Corporation Board of Directors meeting Thursday. The board, which is made up of all of the members of the Austin City…
Housing • By Daniel Salazar • Sep 22, 2020
City's RENT 2.0 program ramps up
After its launch earlier this summer, the second round of the city’s rental assistance program is gaining steam. The Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants, or RENT, program provides direct rental assistance to residents financially hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic.…
