Victory for Lower-Income Homebuyers

DC City Council Amends Inclusionary Zoning Legislation to Allow Lower-Income Homebuyers the Opportunity to Build Equity

At the last Legislative Session of the year, the City Council on December 19, 2006 amended the Inclusionary Zoning legislation to include a compromise formed by the Office of Planning and various affordable housing and community development practitioners across the city.

To view the video of the Council Session click here - Skip to minute 19 to watch the discussion on the amendment

What is in the Amendment?

  • Lower-income homebuyers have the opportunity to earn up to 25% of the appreciation of their home.
  • The first sale to a lower-income buyer will be at or near the absolute minimum and subsequent sales will allow buyers to spend above 30% of their income (which is consistent with long-time City programs) - this provides a cushion of flexibility so that interest rate changes will not force the lower-income owner to sell at a loss when general property values have risen.
  • After 5 years, there will be a study to assess the Inclusionary Zoning program and its effects on lower-income buyers, the City and the building industry.

How it Happened

Councilmembers Jack Evans and Marion Barry worked hard to bring together various advocacy groups and community development practitioners from around the city to work with the Office of Planning and the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development on a compromise.  As soon as everybody did the math and understood that uncontrollable variables such as interest rates could have a very detrimental effect on lower-income homeowners, then the groups worked out a compromise that would allow some flexibility so that homeowners would not be so vulnerable to a loss even though general property values have risen.  This compromise became the language of the amendment that City Council approved on December 19.

The amendment's approval came only after a 45 minute debate on the dias.  Councilmember Evans introduced the amendment with a short speech about affordable housing and the amount of progress that City Council has made in recent years.  Council Chairman Linda Cropp then began a dialogue about the city's need for long-term affordable housing and reiterated that the City should not simply enrich the firstcomers.  Evans then pointed out that enrichment was not the concern, rather severe restrictions and discrimination were the true concern of the current legislation - in attempting to avoid "windfall profits" for the firstcomers, the legislation swung so far in the other direction that it would end up avoiding nearly all the benefits of homeownership, including the motivation to make such an enormous financial commitment in the first place.  Councilmember Marion Barry then proposed a 25% cap on the amount of appreciation that IZ homebuyers could earn and this quickly turned the argument around and the Council reached a consensus with a vote of 11 to 1 in favor of the amendment.

We thank Councilmembers Jack Evans and Marion Barry for their leadership on this amendment.  They have demonstrated that they care not only for affordable housing, but for the people who are affected by the City's affordable housing programs.  They have shown that housing is for the people, not the other way around.