Georgetown and Scott County officials on a joint housing forum reviewed a new housing needs assessment that consultants and local staff said shows sustained population and job growth, a tight rental market and shortages of both deeply affordable rental units and smaller ownership options. Presenters urged the city and county to build organizational capacity to coordinate development, preserve existing affordable housing and expand shelter and rental assistance.

The assessment, presented by consultants Summer Pan and Russell (RKG) and summarized by Candace Whitehouse, director of Affordable Housing and Homelessness Prevention, found the county’s long-term population growth and higher-than-regional earnings will keep housing demand high through 2050 and push developers toward higher-value housing unless the public sector intervenes. “This housing needs assessment will be a foundational document for this office,” Whitehouse said during the meeting.

Why it matters: consultants said market forces alone were producing mostly larger, higher-priced single-family homes while vacancy rates and new multifamily deliveries have not kept pace with demand. That dynamic, combined with a shortage of smaller units and an influx of investors buying residences, is limiting options for renters, seniors who want to downsize and lower-wage workers. Summer Pan told the joint body, “If you forget everything else and only remember one thing from today, the one thing you should remember is that a city and county must create organizational capacity to facilitate expansion.”

Key findings and numbers presented
- Survey and outreach: consultants reported about 1,800 community survey responses; roughly 72% of respondents were homeowners.
- Affordability gaps: the assessment estimates a shortage today of about 603 ownership units and roughly 800 rental units affordable to households at or below 50% of area median income (AMI). Projected growth will add ~560 owner households and ~250 renter households at or below 50% AMI by 2030 if trends continue.
- Homelessness and services: the official point‑in‑time count (one night in January) undercounts local need, consultants said; Amon House served over 800 individuals in one year, which consultants used as an on‑the‑ground indicator that unmet need exceeds the PIT count.
- Expiring affordability: six publicly supported rental properties in Georgetown have affordability restrictions that expire by 2034.
- Short‑term rentals and investor purchases: staff reported 133 known short‑term rental properties; presenters cautioned to monitor investor-driven purchases and register or inspect long‑term rentals to manage impacts.

Recommended tools and near-term actions
Consultants and staff outlined a menu of actions for different timeframes and levels of public involvement: land tools, targeted rehabilitation, capacity building and financing partnerships.
- Organize and coordinate: create a community-based affordable housing entity (land bank/trust or CDC), set eligibility criteria for land disposition and convene development partners.
- Land acquisition fund: Russell (RKG) recommended approaching a banking consortium to capitalize a revolving land-acquisition fund. He cited an example of a $3,000,000 consortium partnership at Transylvania University and proposed a $5,000,000 target as a model to acquire land for affordable projects.
- Preserve existing housing: pursue place-based rehabilitation in neighborhoods with deteriorating housing stock (the assessment highlighted concentrations north in the county and within Georgetown) and use CDBG funds for neighborhood revitalization.
- Expand affordable development: pursue mixed-income projects, missing‑middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, townhomes), and work with Kentucky Housing Corporation on Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) applications and the new 2025 industrial revenue bond tool for multifamily funding.
- Homelessness and rapid rehousing: continue to pursue ESG and tenant‑based rental assistance funds and a new low‑barrier shelter; Whitehouse noted the office has already secured Emergency Solutions Grant and TBRA funding and described rapid rehousing payments and move‑in assistance as a regular tool to move people out of homelessness.
- Rental monitoring and code enforcement: begin or expand registration and inspection of long‑term rental properties to protect housing stock and vulnerable tenants.

Council and community reaction
Council members and stakeholders described the report as a starting point and raised constraints and local context: Scott County and Georgetown have a largely single‑family housing stock, limited developable land in northern Scott County, a relatively high owner‑occupancy rate and comparatively low local tax base. Elected officials repeatedly asked for steps the city and county could take without large new budgets and sought clarity on where growth and higher densities should be located. Planning staff noted the urban service boundary and said the county and city must coordinate where density and missing‑middle housing are appropriate.

Implementation caveats and next steps
Whitehouse and consultants emphasized phasing: some near‑term activities (rental monitoring, improved PIT counts, outreach to developers and nonprofit partners) can begin immediately; larger efforts (capitalized land funds, LIHTC projects, land banking and significant multifamily projects) will take years and require partnerships, land control, competitive grant or tax‑credit awards and state or private financing. Consultants also flagged uncertainty at federal funding programs as an implementation risk.

The meeting closed with staff and council agreeing to continue work on the prioritized items: explore community land trust/land‑bank models, pursue CDBG and shelter funding, monitor long‑term rentals and coordinate with the Georgetown Housing Authority on planned renovations and potential expansion.