The Affordable Housing Production Task Force holds its first meeting, outlining the goals and timeline of the committee’s work.
Legislators created the task force in an effort to come up with findings and recommendations on how the state and local governments can promote the production of affordable housing units in Delaware.
The 15-member task force is co-chaired by Delaware State Housing Authority Director Cynthia Karnai, State Rep. Kendra Johnson (D-Bear) and State Sen. Russ Huxtable (D-Lewes).
Delaware State Housing Authority Chief Strategy Advisor Caitlin Del Collo set the scene for task force members, explaining the supply shortage in affordable units.
“So we've already got this backlog of 19,000 plus affordable rental units. Now, we need another 24,000 affordable units just to keep up with growth," she said.
Del Collo says for those in Delaware making 0-30% of the area median income, which is around a $20,000 annual income in Delaware, there are around 22,000 renters but only 8,730 units available to rent in their affordable price range.
And for those making 120% of the area median income or above, around $80,000, there aren’t enough units in their higher affordability range, causing them to rent cheaper apartments and ultimately creating more scarcity in affordable units.
“There is no one entity, agency developer or sector that can meet this need by themselves. It is going to have to take partnership and collaboration across sectors, private, public, nonprofit, etc.," Del Collo said.
Task force co-chairs say most of the work will be done in the body’s five subcommittees who are required to meet once per month from October through December.
The task force must deliver their recommendations to state leaders by March 1.
