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Housing Framework for Equity and Growth

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  Read Mayor Bowser's Housing Equity Report here

  

  

  Are you interested in learning more about housing segregation and how that impacts opportunity? Check out our list of resources here!

  

  

  Read Mayor Bowser's Housing Equity Report here

  

  

  Are you interested in learning more about housing segregation and how that impacts opportunity? Check out our list of resources here!

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  Housing DC | Message from the Mayor

  

  Housing DC | A Framework for Equity and Growth

  A Message from Mayor Muriel Bowser

  “A fair shot to live and thrive in DC also means that we are big in our thinking about creating and preserving more affordable housing.”

  – Mayor Bowser, Second Inaugural Address to the District

  A Direction for the District

  Housing impacts us all. Today, residents in the District spend more of their income on housing than ever before.

  Housing affordability is critical for all residents to thrive. Lower housing costs mean residents can afford to live in high opportunity areas, afford medical treatments, buy healthy foods, invest in education, and maintain a high quality of life.

  How can we prioritize housing affordability for all? We can start by building more housing units for households at all income levels and preserving homes that are already affordable. Over the past 10 years, the District has grown by 34,000 housing units. However, this is still not enough. Our population is projected to keep growing.

  We must think differently and act boldly to ensure the District is a home for all residents, whether you’ve lived here your entire life or you’ve recently moved here. To make sure the District can be a home for all residents, we must build more housing units.

  

  Read on for our response

  Read on for our response

  

  Housing Framework for Equity and Growth

  To make the District’s vision of housing affordability a reality, Mayor Bowser issued a Mayor's Order that directed District agencies to address housing affordability in the District of Columbia.

  The order calls on the District to create 36,000 new residential units by 2025 with at least 12,000 of those units being dedicated as affordable to low-income residents, and also calls on preserving an additional 6,000 affordable homes.

  How can we make this vision a reality? The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Office of Planning (OP) have launched the Housing Framework for Equity and Growth. This initiative has three goals:

  1. Make and commit to changes that achieve equitable goals for allocating affordable housing to each of the District's ten Comprehensive Plan Planning Areas;
  2. Stimulate housing production to improve affordability and reduce the share of income that all residents spend on housing;
  3. Make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring

  We’ll need your help reaching the District’s goals. Throughout this initiative, we will be calling on residents to make their voices heard.

  Ready to dive in? You can start by joining our Housing Framework for Equity and Growth newsletter to stay up-to-date and share your feedback with us.

  

  Our challenges

  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:

  • Stay involved by signing up for our newsletter
  • Tell us what you think here.

  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).