COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thousands of people across central Ohio struggle to find affordable housing or to stay in their homes. An October report from the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio found that the shortage of affordable and available housing has grown 6% in the last year.
Columbus City Council held a hearing Monday on the progress of some of their initiatives to address the lack of affordable housing. Council members say one of the big challenges is how fast the area is growing coupled with an apparent slowdown in construction.
According to the city, housing unit building permits are on track to be down 10% from last year.
Regionally, housing production is on track to be down 3%. So far in 2023 14,000 jobs have been added in the region, but only about 9,000 housing units have been added.
Monday, council heard a presentation from the Columbus Department of Development to expand the city's residential tax incentive program to cover more of the city geographically. The department says the proposal fits with the city's housing strategy to create more affordable housing, and housing in general citywide, while promoting inclusive, economically diverse neighborhoods.
Council President Shannon Hardin likened the housing crisis to a five-alarm fire.
"We know that to keep pace with the number of jobs coming to Columbus, the region needs to produce twice as many housing units annually as we do now," Hardin said. "Twice as many just to keep up."
City Council Housing Committee Chair Shayla Favor says all price points are needed to meet the demand.
"I focus a lot on talking about the need for more affordable housing in our communities, but affordable is also a relative term," Favor said. "You'll also hear me talk about our extremely low income all the way up to our market rate to alleviate that pressure that we're seeing all across the board."
At Monday's hearing, council members also discussed wholesaler regulation. They say proposed legislation would create licensed regulations for bulk property buyers in order to prevent predatory practices.
To learn more about the housing initiatives council has passed and the ones proposed click here.