Low-Income, Affordable Cohousing | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: rehm (rehm![]() |
|
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 12:40 CDT |
Now that cohousing is "just another housing type" (well maybe not yet in the eyes of most lenders, but that's the push of the Cohousing (TM) Movement), I'd like to find out what experiences, resources, ideas people on this have about "affordable cohousing" for people with low and/or fixed incomes. It seems to me that the current cohousing trends only marginally expand the the lower end of therange of incomes for participants, and/or rely on imaginative and well-intentioned subsidies by other cohousing members. I belong to a cohousing (TM not!) group in Seattle called The New Cohousing Group. Our vision has all of the nice cohousing visions, plus a commitment to affordable housing. One of our "non-negotiables" is limiting equity in the sale of dwellings. The sale price of a dwelling, beyond improvements, will be linked to a small percentage more than than some standard economic indicated (inflation, wage trends, etc.) (Obviously, we haven't talked to any lenders/banks yet. We're just now buying ear plugs to protect ourselves from the volume of their laughter.) In one respect, this is nothing new: there are limited equity apartment buildings and condos built with public subsidies around the country. Where do I get info on projects like this? Have any public-financed housing developments ever been built with a limited equity stipulation. We're also pursuing cooperative finanical organization, and land ownership in the form of a land trust. (We haven't started looking for land either.) To really do affordable housing for families with annual incomes of $15K - $30K, we will have to find grants, low down-payment loans, etc. Where do we start? Who do we call/write? (I do have HUD Secretary Henry Cisnero's phone number, thank you.) Any suggestions on articles or books? Thanks for the help! /eric rehm Housing is housing, not an investment! [The New Cohousing Group] Seattle, WA rehm [at] zso.dec.com
-
Low-Income, Affordable Cohousing rehm, April 15 1993
- Re: Low-Income, Affordable Cohousing Lee Haring, April 16 1993
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.