A city with affordable housing

Affordable housing matters in our community because about half of our neighbors are renters, and many of our older homeowners have fixed incomes.  When thinking about affordable housing in Takoma Park, we need to have a broad understanding of the city’s role in supporting stability, quality, and choice, and how decisions of the city council and our modest budget can help.

Takoma Park’s rent stabilization law does not need to be changed. The data shows that the city's rent stabilization law has kept rent increases for long-term residents close to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or the rate of inflation. The city is working to improve its implementation by better educating renters about their rights. The city is doing a lot, and the council should support our hardworking staff as they help residents organize and better represent their interests to owners. 

The city is helping low-income homeowners. In July, the council expanded eligibility criteria and tax rebate programs to help long-term residents on fixed incomes. This support mirrors county program criteria and should continue, adjusted with the CPI.

We can do more to ensure quality housing remains a priority for renters. Our neighbors who rent are dealing with broken elevators, mold, and burst pipes. Many old buildings need significant repairs. Landlords need more education about their responsibilities and options under existing law, and help funding building maintenance and rehabilitation to ensure renters have access to stable, affordable, high-quality housing. Staff are working diligently to support renters, and city council should support them.

We can keep doing our part to help make all our buildings more energy efficient. For homeowners and businesses, grants fund improved environmental sustainability and energy efficiency across the city, with amounts varying by income level. We should continue funding these grants and do our modest part to promote energy efficiency.

But to make housing more affordable, we need to build more, as more houses will give residents more choices. We must understand that, as a small municipality in our region, greater forces shape housing in Takoma Park. It is simple economics: in the long term, we need to build more housing to bring down housing prices as our population has increased. We need to explore all the opportunities in Takoma Park to increase density smartly.

But the city council is fortunate to have strong partners to help increase housing choice. This includes organizations like Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP), the non-profit owner of 10 buildings and more than 600 affordable units across Takoma Park. The buildings house children, people with disabilities, families, immigrants, retirees, and seniors. MHP plans to rebuild one of these: the aging Edinburgh House on Maple Avenue. Zoning changes I supported at council in 2023 unlocked this site's potential and made this reconstruction viable.

It allows MHP to more than double the number of affordable apartments at the same location. Current residents would receive alternative housing during reconstruction, and MHP intends to give them all the right to return, meaning there would be net gains in affordable housing with no displacement.

Emerging opportunities for new housing in or adjacent to Ward 2 deserve our support.  On New Hampshire Avenue, the Grace Methodist Church is working on plans for affordable senior housing. In the medium term, the Washington Adventist University has an ambitious vision for a mixed-use development with a significant portion of affordable housing as well as market-rate apartments. This large site has great potential, and Takoma Park residents should see it as an opportunity to achieve a net gain in high-quality affordable housing. 

As these quality projects move from dream to concept and proposal to project, they will come before the city council and the community. We may be asked to provide modest financial support from our housing reserve fund to help some of these projects maintain momentum. This small fund is one way Takoma Park directly supports affordable housing opportunities, and it helps us live our values through the budget. County planning processes also ensure community involvement in these projects to help shape them and make sure they support our city’s goal of ensuring stable, high-quality, affordable homes.