Housing Call: February 14, 2023 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

NCHC Updates

Today we’ll be visiting the general assembly, discussing county profiles and our policy agenda, as well as hand delivering the NCHFA letter we spoke about on last week’s call to House Leadership. As a reminder, last week we put out a call to action for people to sign on to a letter we have put together in order to address the importance of protecting the NCHFA’s enabling statute. Through the last two legislative sessions – we had concerns about language added to the 2021 appropriations bill that would have critically interfered with the NCHFA’s ability to effectively finance affordable housing real estate development. There were several elements but the proposal was to move it under the state budget act which means it would be subject to all the same requirements and procedural steps as other state agencies. However, one of the core things that allows our NCHFA to operate as effectively as it does, is the fact that they are not under the state budget act currently.

You can read more details about the 2021 legislative language here.

Federal Updates

HUD recently announced new resources to advance housing protections for survivors under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). These resources include a new VAWA website, a Notice that establishes HUD’s enforcement authority under VAWA, and $5M in funding to provide training and technical assistance to HUD grantees.

State and Local Updates

Yesterday, Carolina Forward published a piece advocating for a housing bill this session similar to SB 349, the “Increase Housing Opportunities” bipartisan bill introduced in the 2021-22 session. The bill sought to increase housing density through the creation of missing middle housing like ADUs, duplexes, and triplexes. While it never made it out of committee, one of its sponsors, NC Republican senator Paul Newton of Cabarrus County, holds a leadership position within the Republican caucus and has indicated that he intends to refile the bill this session. This bill would be a win for North Carolina.
Last week in Raleigh, the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended SB 53, the hotel bill, on a voice vote to another committee. As mentioned on last week’s call, the measure is similar to HB 352, which Gov. Cooper vetoed in 2021. The bill drastically changes the way people living in motels are treated, especially when it comes to evictions. It denies folks who have been living in a motel for less than 90 days of landlord/tenant protections that have been in place for over 30 years. The Coalition is opposed to this legislation as we were in 2021. We’ve included NC Policy Watch’s story from this morning on the bill in the call notes.
Asheville Habitat for Humanity is advocating for source of income protections to be added to Asheville and Buncombe County’s nondiscrimination ordinances. Last year, the city of Winston-Salem, the City of Raleigh, the City of Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County became the first municipalities in NC to adopt source of income protections policies that pertain to publicly funded developments. As part of our 2023 policy agenda, the Coalition advocates for statewide protections against source of income discrimination in publicly funded developments.
On February 3, CASA celebrated the completion of construction at Perry Place, a tax credit development situated on the line between Chapel HIll and Carrboro. The development is the first tax credit property for both the Town of Carrboro and CASA. The community contains 48 1-and 2-bedroom units. Applications opened in December and are still being accepted.
Last Tuesday, Raleigh City Council allocated over $4M towards affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and legal assistance, including eviction diversion.
- $1.86M to Rebuilding Together of the Triangle for the Raleigh Home Revitalization Program that provides zero-interest, forgivable loans to longtime homeowners for repairs and maintenance
- $1.5M to CASA for 100 affordable apartments, including 50 for permanent supportive housing
- The purchase and lease of land for a 119-unit affordable housing development south of the Beltline
- Two quarter-million contracts to Triangle Family Services and Passage Home for emergency rent assistance, housing case management, and housing navigation for people experiencing homelessness
- $50K for the newly created Wake Legal Support Center, which assists with evictions and landlord/tenant disputes, in addition to other small claims and domestic issues.

Last week, WRAL reported that real estate brokerage firm Redfin ranked Raleigh the fastest growing rental market for the month of January. Nationally, rents increased by about 2% from January 2022 to January 2023. In Raleigh, year-over rents increased 22%. The Coalition’s 2023 County Profiles indicate that 45% of renters in Wake County have difficulty affording their homes.