By Nneka Nnamdi
Council Bill 25-0066, otherwise known as the Housing Options and Opportunities Act, is a part of Mayor Brandon Scott’s plan to bring down housing costs by making it lawful to create 2-4 units in a single structure that is greater than 1,500 sq ft. The logic of the bill seems to be that the cost to bring a 3,000 sq. ft. house to the market is more than that for bringing three 1,000 sq. ft. apartments to market, which would result in lower housing costs and increased accessibility.
On its face this may seem like a great idea because housing affordability and accessibility are low. Of renters in Baltimore “57 percent pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing and, staggeringly, 33 percent pay more than half.”
However, this bill misses the mark because while it may remove the racist single family zoning (de jure) policy, it does not address the realities of owning or renting in neighborhoods that have been targeted by slumlords, speculators and shi**y flips (de facto). One of those realities is that landlords and developers often don’t pass any savings they achieve by cutting the cost of ownership (i.e. getting a reduction in the tax assessed value) down to renters or buyers. In fact, the opposite is often true.
and Unsplash / Yianni Mathioudakis)
When blockbusters were getting homes in Edmondson Village from fleeing White families for bargain prices, they routinely tripled the sale price to the Black families they steered into new homes. Even today, houses acquired by flippers via tax sale or from “We Buy Houses” for cheap are dressed up, (often with unpermitted and/or shoddy work), and offered for way above the original “market value.”
Homeowners aren’t the only ones harmed in this dynamic. Landlords routinely challenge the tax assessed value of their properties. They use attorneys in Maryland Tax court to get decisions that result in lowered assessments. They often cite low market values as a justification though their assessments should be calculated using an income approach. Even if the market values are low it doesn’t mean the income they are generating from the rent is low. When they win reductions there is no evidence to suggest they lower the rent.
To ensure that ending single family zoning benefits renters, homeowners and neighborhoods, the Housing Options and Opportunities act must include measures that address these realities and more. Affordability and accessibility should be baked into the bill. Here are ways to do it:
- Require that two unit conversions be allowed with little (square footage and lot size) restrictions. In fact, to encourage intergenerational living (which is known to have so many benefits), if the second unit is going to be a granny or family flat it should get a tax exemption.
- Require that two units and above should only be allowed if the 3rd unit will be rented to a household making 60-80 percent of AMI and the 4th for households making 60 percent or below AMI. The rent should be capped at 30 percent based on AMI. This will help support mixed- income neighborhoods.
- Require that property owners must notify tenants of the Maryland Renters Tax Credit who enter into leases after a single unit is converted to multiple units.
- Launch Charm City Roots program aimed at housing reclamation for legacy families or heirs properties with rehabilitation grants, zero interest loans and tax credits that will support their ability to rehab and convert larger family homes into multiple units. (Note: The SOS Fund has submitted a proposal to DCHD to pilot this program,)
- Reform DCHD permitting and inspections departments to enable timely, rigorous and transparent inspections of construction work. A valid complaint raised by many who are opposed to any conversions is rooted in DCHD’s pattern of allowing shoddy work to fly, especially in Black neighborhoods.
- Mandate that newly converted properties where the household income of the buyers is at or below 80 percent should not be subject to “post sale” reassessments. Instead they should be granted Homestead status by SDAT which would cap the assessed value growth by 4 percent per year.
These measures will strengthen the bill and shape it to its purpose. And, while we recognize that single family only zoning needs to go, it needs to be replaced by policy that has a reparative impact on the neighborhoods harmed by it. Otherwise, it will become a vehicle for gentrification and thats apart of an ongoing genocide against Black neighborhoods in Baltimore.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.