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Housing
Want to know how the city enforces density bonus agreements? Read on.
This week, the Community Development Commission learned more about how the city ensures the reduced-rent housing units created through its density bonus programs go to people who meet the income eligibility requirements. At the commission’s Jan. 10 meeting, Commissioner Karen…
Housing • By Nina Hernandez • Jan 13, 2023
After years of negotiation, renovations begin on Austin’s oldest publicly owned homes
Alexis Henderson stands in the kitchen of her former home at Rosewood Courts in East Austin. The place is abandoned now, save for a couple of items. A rag on the stairwell. A video game decal on the bedroom wall.…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 16, 2022
Council responds to report finding 'affordable' condos aren't always affordable
City Council approved a resolution on Dec. 8 addressing barriers to affordable condo ownership, acting on findings from a report by the University of Texas School of Law that expensive condo fees and improper property tax assessments can push below-market…
Housing • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 15, 2022
Austin deals with growing pains of being rare real estate 'supernova'
If the last decade of booming real estate growth has earned Austin the designation of being one of four “supernova” markets, according to the national Urban Land Institute (Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte being the others), then the onset of an…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 6, 2022
Council relaxes compatibility requirements along selected corridors
City Council has approved changes to building compatibility standards that will allow for some increases in housing density along a handful of transit corridors. The ordinance amending City Code Title 25 was approved Friday, modifying parking requirements and allowing for…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 5, 2022
Austin's program to sell homes to people affected by gentrification off to slow start
The city of Austin has not yet sold one of the two dozen homes it began marketing six months ago to low-income families affected by displacement and the influx of wealth into neighborhoods. This is the city’s first attempt at using…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 28, 2022
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ECHO offers lease incentives to real estate agents for placing homeless tenants
Real estate agents in Austin have an incentive to find market-rate homes for those experiencing homelessness, and help one of the city’s main homeless services nonprofits lower the number of people facing housing instability. Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, known…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 23, 2022
Eviction rates are skyrocketing in Travis County, says HHS
Eviction rates have shot up more than 250 percent of the average in the Austin area, according to Travis County Health and Human Services. “We have been absolutely inundated with crisis applications,” Kirsten Siegfried, HHS chief deputy, told the Travis County…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Nov 18, 2022
Builder: Without new affordability bonds, projects would be 'few and far between'
The new round of bonds providing $350 million to fund affordable projects couldn’t have come at a better time for developers of affordable housing in Austin. The combination of fierce land costs locally, inflation increasing construction costs on all housing…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 15, 2022
Homes in Austin’s white neighborhoods are valued much higher than ones in communities of color
People of color in Austin can expect their homes to be worth nearly three times less than homes owned by white residents, according to a new report. Researchers with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Illinois-Chicago found that,…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 4, 2022
ASPIRE project to bring affordable housing, business training to North Austin
BiGAUSTIN, the Black-led nonprofit group that has provided microlending, business training and workforce assistance for nearly 30 years, has announced plans to construct a massive new community resource center and affordable housing community in a partnership with Banc of America…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 3, 2022
Council approves ordinances to strengthen renters’ rights
City Council approved two ordinances Thursday enshrining the right of tenants to organize and to remedy lease violations prior to eviction. As rents in Austin continue to rise, tenant advocates say the ordinances are increasingly necessary to help prevent eviction…
