Editors Note…
Here is a brief history about what is People, Places & Things LLC. For the next couple of blogs, you will see previous articles, features and other cool stuff on what we are all about. Please comment if you will and enjoy the experience.
Release Spring 2008
What is Affordable Housing
By Walter L. Williams, CPBD, CAPS
There are many definitions that define what Affordable Housing is. For example:
The Federal Government defines housing affordability as housing costs that do not exceed 30 percent of household income. The housing must be of market-competitive quality that can blend in to a neighborhood. Thus we are explicitly excluding substandard locations, configurations, constructions and maintenance.
While the definitions may be vast, the design component is not. The design of any home should be based on the area that the home is to reside in. While the homes above are extreme, some organizations gravitate to those designs in the hopes of solving the affordable housing problem in that area.
Today’s building technology has made the possibility of making affordable housing something more – a community. For a few dollars more, you can add value to the homes you build. For example, using new building techniques such as the ones listed below, can add long-term value to the community that you build in.
All of these things that are in this feature are things that other firms know about but you would not see in these types of homes due to cost, however when used wisely, this technology will add a long term value to the community – long term home ownership.
Resources:
Affordable Housing Institute:
http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org
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