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Secretary, Office of the

Secretary, Office of the
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20004

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Message from the Mayor

Mayor Bowser

A Message from Mayor Muriel Bowser

In 2019, we set out to meet a bold goal – build 36,000 new homes in five years. To get it done, we made historic investments in affordable housing, we worked strategically with our housing partners, and we made DC the first city in the nation to set affordable housing goals by neighborhood. I’m proud that DC has been leading the region in this work, and looking ahead, we know that we must sustain and maintain these investments so that we can continue building on our progress.

– Mayor Muriel Bowser

A Bold Vision 

In 2019, Mayor Muriel Bowser set an ambitious goal to create 36,000 new homes by 2025. This effort would expand the competitive supply of housing, moderate increases in housing costs, provide relief to a broad range of middle-income families, and reduce pressure on the supply of housing serving lower incomes. The Mayor’s housing goal included a special provision – of the 36,000 new homes to be produced, a third of those homes, 12,000, must be affordable.

Graphical image showing the cycle of housing production

growthMeeting the Housing Goal

Meeting this goal represents a signature achievement of Mayor Bowser’s administration and has oriented the District’s housing production strategy moving forward. Setting the goal and working to achieve it revealed several key lessons for DC government and lessons for other cities as they invest in building more homes and preserving affordability. To meet the housing goal the District: 

  1. Thought big. 
  2. Adopted a whole-of-government approach where agencies rallied around the goal. 
  3. Kept the public informed and updated. 
  4. Set affordable housing targets by planning area. 
  5. Integrated all the tools at our disposal, including planning, development, financing, land and regulation. 

 

Read on for our response

What's Next?

As the District plans for the next 5 to 10 years and beyond, the following actions will contribute to the stabilization of the housing market and the production of new homes: 

  1. Set new goals for equitable growth and affordable and market rate housing production
  2. Stabilize the affordable housing supply
  3. Coordinate with partners on innovative financing tools and cost containment strategies
  4. Minimize displacement while assisting residents in accessing opportunity
  5. Support Black homeownership goals—20,000 households by 2030—by creating a pilot development fund to support the construction of new homeownership opportunities and expand support through the Home Purchase Assistance Program
  6. Attract 15,000 new residents downtown by converting obsolete office space to new housing units

Housing Costs are Rising

You've spoken. We're listening. We've heard:

  • The cost of renting or buying a home is too high.
  • Residents are spending too much of their income on housing. 
  • No one should experience homelessness or housing instability.
  • The distribution of affordable housing is not equitable.

Throughout the summer, District residents made their voices heard by participating in our survey on the current distribution of affordable housing, participating in our Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI) hearing process, providing feedback during Urban Land Institute’s Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), taking our Comprehensive Plan Values survey, joining us at in-person events, and more. 

You've told us:

"My hometown of DC is now too expensive for me to comfortably live in." - Ward 5 resident

"Native Washingtonians working in the city are being forced to move out of the city due to higher cost of living." - Ward 7 resident

"I want to live in a District that offers everyone opportunities to thrive and succeed." - Ward 2 resident

"DC has a vibrant history as "Chocolate City," but as rent continues to climb and the city continues to gentrify, black and brown people are continuing to be disproportionately pushed out of their homes... If there was [only] more equity and equal opportunity." - Ward 1 resident

"My family origins are from Washington, DC. I one day want to have the opportunity to become a DC resident again. The expedited gentrification process is pushing people who live in low income housing out and replacing the neighborhoods with living spaces starting at 350k. There is no median; it’s either you make a lot of money or make no money." - Former DC resident

Keep making your voice heard:

Our Partners

The Housing Framework for Equity and Growth is supported by our partner agencies: Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), DC Department of Human Services (DHS), and DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA).
 
 
 

Community Engagement Calendar

OP and DHCD conducted engagement over summer 2019 to learn about residents’ housing needs and gather feedback on the current distribution of affordable housing in the city. To learn about where we’ve been, view our Engagement Summary. We will continue to create opportunities for community and resident engagement as the initiative moves forward with the next steps with the Housing Experience and Design Analysis and the Opportunities and Recommendations.