On Nov. 5, the College Student Commission voted to create a working group to study the city’s affordable housing crisis, specifically as it affects students. “I think that anyone who’s living here in Austin knows, we do have an affordable housing crisis. I don’t think the city is currently on track to meet its affordable […]
Housing
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City Council to meet for special session on housing supply
City Council is convening Nov. 30 to discuss what Mayor Steve Adler has called one of Austin’s “greatest present challenges” – housing supply. In a City Council Message Board post co-authored with Council Member Alison Alter last Wednesday, Adler outlined the strategy up for discussion at the special session: allowing residential housing units in commercially […]
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County readies for next wave of federal rental assistance
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court reviewed the progress on Emergency Rental Assistance Program funding dispersal. The county met a U.S. Treasury deadline to distribute 65 percent of its $10.7 million in federal ERAP funding by the end of September, but only just. Had the county missed the deadline, all ERAP funding could have […]
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The average monthly rent in Austin is now $1,500. Prices are rising at the fastest pace ever.
Elisa Regulski was getting desperate. The 29-year-old’s lease on an apartment in South Austin was days away from ending, but after putting in half a dozen applications she still didn’t have a place to move. “I wasn’t sleeping very well,” she said. “If you were to ask my friends, they would say that was pretty […]
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In wake of Rosemont snafu, county updates housing bylaws
On Oct. 5, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved changes to the bylaws of the Strategic Housing Finance Corporation. The amendments came in the wake of a massive blunder at the Rosemont apartment complex in South Austin – which is managed by the SHFC – where scores of tenants were given eviction notices and forced […]
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City failed to meet its affordable housing goals in 2020
Not one City Council district met its affordable housing production goals for 2020, according to the most recent annual scorecard released by nonprofit HousingWorks Austin. The report comes as soaring rents and home prices drive the need for more affordable housing in the city. The nonprofit, in a joint press release with the city’s Housing […]
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Code takes a step to address mold complaints
In the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, numerous Austin renters found their homes uninhabitable due to water and the resulting mold. Many were forced out of their apartments as a result and the city experienced a surge in the number of complaints about mold. In May, City Council directed City Manager Spencer Cronk to come […]
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The battle for 3000 Funston Street
What does a house interrupted look like? On a small piece of land in West Austin, you can see the answer: Wooden boards form a rectangle in the center of the lot meant to case a foundation, but it’s a container without anything to contain. The inspector who would have signed off on pouring the […]
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County may donate rental assistance funds to city for speedier distribution
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court continued to brainstorm ways to spend 65 percent of a federal rental assistance allocation before a U.S. Treasury deadline at the end of September threatens to rescind unused funds. If the 65 percent threshold is not met, all of the remaining unallocated Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds […]
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As federal rental assistance deadline looms, county must use it or lose it
The Travis County Commissioners Court is scrambling to spend Emergency Rental Assistance Program money before a federal Treasury deadline threatens to reclaim the funds. According to Treasury policy, municipalities must return rental assistance money to the federal government if 65 percent of the funding is not allocated by the end of September. Lawrence Lyman brought […]
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Property group wants to help Rosemont residents, but won’t put anything in writing
At the Tuesday meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, Patrick Howard with the Housing Authority of Travis County announced that the board of directors of the Strategic Housing Finance Corporation unanimously voted against an agreement drafted for, and proposed by, tenants of the Rosemont apartment complex in South Austin. Though Howard verbally pledged to […]
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County mobilizes to reach residents who qualify for emergency rental assistance
On Aug. 3, the Travis County Commissioners Court fielded updates on the national Emergency Rental Assistance Program from Sherri Fleming with County Health and Human Services. The program concerns rental and utility assistance programs and initiatives made available from federal funds intended to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The update came as the […]