How does DC Define “Affordable” Housing

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In trying to parse the efficacy of DC's affordable housing programs, we  first must understand how DC defines what an “affordable” housing unit is.
The three points below and sources help us understand the definition of “affordability” in DC.
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1. DC's premier affordable housing program, Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) in its ten years of existence has produced less than 2000 housing units, most of them studio/one bedrooms and most for single professionals making about $75,000 annual income.  To contrast, the families and individuals making the living wage in DC will earn about $35,000/yr and there are 30,000 DC people/families on the housing wait list seeking affordable housing.

Sources:
* Report, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, “Inclusionary Zoning Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021” dated January 9, 2023, https://lims.dccouncil.gov/downloads/LIMS/52021/Introduction/RC25-0002-Introduction.pdf
* Article, Washington Business Journal, “D.C.'s inclusionary zoning program not benefiting lowest-income households, report finds” by Tristan Navera, February 6, 2023, https://archive.ph/ghkMx

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2. Beyond the IZ fail, recent reports show that DC's Housing Production Trust Fund has been similarly serving for the most part moderate income single professionals making $60,000+/yr.  And, this fact stands in the face of law requiring that the majority of the HPTF monies are to subsidize housing for the lowest income earners (aka those making the living wage annually or less).

Sources:

* Article, Washington Post, “D.C.’s housing fund falls short of requirement to aid lowest-income renters. It’s the first Housing Production Trust Fund annual report filed by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s administration in seven years” by Meagan Flynn, April 3, 2023, https://archive.ph/XFmnK
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3. In addition to the above two points, the bluest city-state in the nation actually extends the definition of affordability to those making $120,000/yr.  Yes, according to DC's regulations “affordability” is based on the ever growing Area Median Income (AMI), or the functionally equivalent Median Family Income (MFI) of incomes in the DMV as a region, including two of the wealthiest counties in the United States — Montgomery County and Fairfax County. This is why the developer for the highly subsidized Wharf Waterfront redevelopment in Southwest D.C. was able to (unjustly) qualify their “affordable housing units” as studio/one bedrooms for single professionals making upwards of $120k/yr.

Sources:
* DC Zoning Commission Case Nos. 11-03, A-K (https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Home/ViewCase?case_id=11-03)
* Tweet, DC for Reality, “Let's not get it confused. When anyone (the Mayor; Developers, anyone) touts a project has 'affordable housing it may likely mean housing for individuals making $80-$120k a year as currently defined! DC needs to do better” dated February 10, 2023, https://twitter.com/dc4reality/status/1624111925494706177

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  • It's these stats that show why in DC “affordable” housing isn't actually affordable and why many of our residents are vulnerable to displacement and why many folks have to set up homes in tents.
  • There are solutions to DC's malformed definition of “affordability”  — one such is the Social Housing model.  Another, perhaps faster solution is for DC policy to be clearly shifted to define affordability as a percentage of DC-only incomes.
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