New Updates on PD&R Edge

In Practice:
Supportive Housing in Los Angeles Embodies Policy Innovations
In early 2022, California developer Affirmed Housing, which has been building affordable housing in Los Angeles for more than 10 years, opened Emerson, a development serving formerly homeless veterans in Los Angeles. In creating Emerson, Affirmed Housing leveraged state and local programs, including: funding from Proposition HHH, which helped secure financing early in the development process; the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program, encouraging multifamily affordable housing for veterans and their families; and the Transit-Oriented Communities Incentive, which encourages housing development within a half-mile of public transit through density and other bonuses, as well as by-right approval.

Trending:
Global Cities and Affordable Housing: Nairobi
In 2017, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta instituted the Big Four Agenda. Part of Kenya’s Vision 2030 development blueprint, the agenda included reforms focusing on four sectors — food security, manufacturing, affordable health care, and affordable housing. Kenya has a deficit of 2 million units and growing and 61 percent of the urbanized population resides in informal settlements. Program achievements include an increased development budget, homeowner and developer incentives, tax exemptions on mortgage interest, tax waivers, a reduction in the corporate tax rate, and the waiver of building approval fees. The program also saw the creation of the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company, the establishment of the National Housing Development Fund, and the development of numerous affordable housing projects.

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