Draft Chapter: Housing

Chapter Summary

Housing is an essential need, requiring affordability and access for all community members. This chapter covers the critical aspects and needs for housing within the County.

Key points include:

• Housing Albemarle is the County's housing policy. The AC44 Housing Chapter reinforces and supports the strategic efforts within Housing Albemarle. Housing Albemarle is a separate plan document that is adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan.
• Increasing housing costs - the cost of owning or renting housing continues to rise, with steep increases over the past several years. Income growth is not keeping pace with rising housing costs, creating a financial hardship or burden for many residents.
• Affordability - The department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers housing to be affordable when a household spends no more than 30% of gross income on housing costs for either homeowners or renters. A household is considered Cost-Burdened when it spends more than 30% of income on housing and Severely Cost-Burdened when more than 50% of income is spent on housing.
• Housing Supply and Variety - affordable housing requires a supply of available homes to rent or purchase, with limited supply increasing the cost to rent or buy housing. Additionally, affordable housing requires a range of different housing types, sizes and costs to provide a variety of homes to fit the needs and pricing for different community members. Albemarle County has an acute need for both an expanded supply and range of housing types.
• Housing location and transportation - housing that is located close to employment and other services and needs, such as shopping, healthcare, etc. reduces transportation demand, resulting in shorter daily trips. Such proximity also facilitates the viability of other modes of transportation besides personal vehicles, such as transit, walking, or biking. Conversely, housing that is located further away from employment, shopping, and other amenities requires longer trips and more vehicle miles travelled.
• Utilities, maintenance, and repair costs - ongoing expenses associated with renting or owning a home include utilities for monthly energy and water consumption as well as the costs for repairs and maintenance incurred by property owners. Older housing also tends to be less energy efficient, resulting in higher costs for heating and cooling.