Housing DC | Our Progress

The District has been working hard on producing and preserving affordable housing. The District is continuing to focus on housing to ensure all Washingtonians can continue to live and thrive in the District. 

Interested in following our progress on producing 36,000 units and 12,000 affordable units by 2025? Check out DMPED's 36,000 Housing Count tracker here. 

What have we been up to? 

On December 7, OP and DHCD hosted an event called "How Land Use Policies Impact Housing Opportunity in the District" to discuss how federal and local land use policies shaped segregation in the District and how segregation impacts opportunity for residents. You can view a recording of the event here and read a summary of the event here. 

Housing Equity Report 

We took all of the community insight shared with us over the summer and incorporated it into our Housing Equity Report. Released in mid-October 2019, the Housing Equity Report provides goals for the equitable distribution of affordable housing in Washington, DC, supporting Mayor Muriel Bowser’s vision for creating 36,000 new housing units by 2025. Read our Housing Equity Report and other relevant reports from our District agency and regional partners on our Publications page. 

You can also view a recording of the release of the Housing Equity Report and the Draft Comprehensive Plan below. 

We’ve also been focused on hearing from you! 

On September 21, OP and DHCD hosted a citywide Community Conversation on Housing. The Community Conversation was an opportunity for community members to learn about the current distribution of affordable housing survey results and explore the connection between health and housing. Read the Community Conversation engagement summary here and view photos from the event below.   

We spent the summer conducting community engagement and a resident survey. Click here to view the results from the resident survey! From June 15 to August 17, we conducted outreach at 24 events throughout the District. We presented on the Housing Framework for Equity and Growth initiative and administered our survey on the current distribution of affordable housing, which closed on August 30. View our summer engagement summary here. 

Expert Advice

Not only did we learn from you over the summer, but we also hosted an Advisory Services Panel from the Urban Land Institute who examined creating housing affordability west of Rock Creek Park. The Advisory Services Panel was comprised of national housing experts, and provided recommendations on: 

• Barriers to new production
• Tools, policies, and changes that would alleviate impediments to production
• Producing affordable units in Rock Creek West
• Increasing resident engagement and feedback

For a complete overview, visit the Advisory Services Panel report, summary page, and presentation. 

Fair Housing

Additionally, this summer DHCD conducted an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (A.I.). This analysis focuses on housing discrimination, segregation, and limitations to fair housing options in the District. The A.I. examines Fair Housing Impediments in the District as part of our efforts to affirmatively further fair housing. The A.I. sets out a number of specific goals and actions steps that the District will take to advance fair housing, by expanding open housing choice and taking steps to remedy residential exclusion, addressing cost pressures and housing instability, and channeling investments to the communities where they are needed.

The DC A.I. is a requirement under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was last updated in 2011. As part of the A.I. process, active participation by the public will be key to developing strategies for addressing myriad housing, employment, education, transportation, and other issues. To review the draft report and register for public hearings, click here. 

Comprehensive Plan

OP is designing an amended Comprehensive Plan by and for all DC residents. The Comprehensive Plan includes an entire chapter devoted to policies and actions on housing in the District. After hearing and learning from residents, OP compiled these ideas and created eight tangible values and asked residents to reflect upon these values. On housing, we heard that District residents want to: 

• Fight displacement
• Increase affordable housing
• Encourage fair and inclusive housing
• Increase accessible mixed-used development
• Encourage and expand homeownership
• Build more housing

To learn more about what residents said about housing, visit our summary page. A summary of all values can be found here.

We’ve heard a lot from District residents, national housing experts, and researchers on how and what we can do to develop more equitable housing District-wide. Based on everything we’ve learned this summer, OP and DHCD will present Mayor Bowser with equitable development goals by planning area. 

Then what?   

Our next steps will be to dive into the Housing Experience and Design Analysis. These studies will help us understand the factors shaping the District’s housing market where we will: 

• Analyze factors affecting the District’s housing market and system, such as land use and zoning capacity for new housing and regional and national drivers of housing;  
• Examine the experiences and needs of specific populations, such as older adults, families, and residents experiencing homelessness, as well as a range of household incomes, unit sizes, and design typologies;
• Identify multiple scales, building design, and resident experiences to meet future housing needs and household needs;

These studies will help us address housing equity, supply, and demand in the District and identify opportunities to accelerate housing production while helping to ensure all residents who want to live in the District can do so without being housing cost burdened.

How will the District move forward on creating and preserving affordable housing? 

We will keep working and improving on our commitments to advance fair, safe, and affordable housing.

There are a wide range of existing programs and policies supporting the production of and access to affordable housing including:

Local Programs

• Housing Production Trust Fund 
• Housing Preservation Fund 
• Public Land Dispositions
• Inclusionary Zoning
• Local Rent Supplement Program
• Rent Control
• Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)
• District Opportunity to Purchase Act (DOPA)

Federal Programs

• Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)
• Tax Exempt Bonds
• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
• Federal Public Housing
• Housing Choice Vouchers

If you have questions about our analysis, please tell us here.