Raleigh presents five-year affordable-housing roadmap, pairs production targets with unsheltered response plan

At a Raleigh City Council work session, Emily Sutton, the city’s housing and neighborhoods director, presented “A Home for Every Neighbor,” a five-year roadmap to increase affordable housing supply and pursue a functional zero target for unsheltered homelessness.

The plan sets measurable objectives and links housing production to homelessness prevention, Sutton told council. ‘‘Homelessness is a housing problem,’’ she said, arguing that housing-focused interventions with ongoing supports can be less costly than repeated emergency responses.

A nut graf: The presentation combined production and preservation targets, existing programs funded by the 2020 housing bond and proposals for flexible funding and landlord incentives. Staff said the city has spent or committed about 75% of the $80 million bond and will need new resources after the bond’s final budget year to keep planned work on track.

Sutton opened with the city’s recent housing and homelessness counts and the policy framing staff used to design the plan. She cited an annual point-in-time count used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and said the county’s current unsheltered count is about 1,400 to 1,500 people with more than 80 camps in Wake County, most inside Raleigh’s limits. Sutton also said 27,000 low-income Wake County households pay more than 30% of income for housing and that Wake County has an estimated 60,000-unit shortage of affordable housing for households under about 80% of area median income.

To address those gaps, staff described three primary goals: increase legally binding affordable housing supply; improve overall market affordability; and end and prevent homelessness. Under supply, staff said the city will continue gap financing and public–private partnerships, expand site-acquisition and preservation efforts, and streamline permitting processes for affordable developments. Sutton told council that since 2016 roughly 7,284 affordable units have been completed or are in the pipeline and that the 2020 bond has supported about 1,100 units across its program buckets.

Housing and Neighborhoods staff provided more detail on bond spending and pipeline. They said approximately $56,000,000 of the $80,000,000 bond has been committed or spent (about 75%); site-acquisition funds are expected to yield more than 300 affordable units; and homeowner-targeted funds have assisted more than 100 households. Staff also said the bond’s gap-financing and public–private partnership buckets accounted for the bulk of production to date and that next fiscal year is the bond program’s final year of spending.

Sutton outlined homelessness strategies that prioritize permanent housing and calibrated interventions: rapid rehousing and short-term rent assistance for many households, and permanent supportive housing for the roughly 10–20% of people who need long-term subsidies and services. Staff said a local ‘‘flex fund’’ could pay security deposits, application fees, first and last month’s rent, utility connections and one-time arrears to remove practical barriers to moving people into housing.

On the unsheltered response, Sutton described a community-led effort to reach ‘‘functional zero’’ for unsheltered homelessness. The effort is led by a 48-member steering committee that includes people with lived experience, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, county and city departments, and a consultant to conduct a needs assessment, develop coordinated camp-decommissioning protocols and recommend prioritization tools.

The presentation highlighted local programs and partnerships: a Campbell Law School eviction-prevention clinic launched in August 2022 that staff said has opened about 100 cases, prevented 62 evictions in court and provided legal advice to 29 additional clients; partnerships with Wake County, WakeMed and UNC Health on outreach and resource pop-up events; and use of federal funds such as Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and HOME to braid with local dollars.

Council members asked for more specific production metrics and clarifications. Councilmember Silver asked how staff reconciled the HUD point-in-time count with the larger number of unhoused students reported by Wake County Schools; Sutton replied that the school tally counts doubled-up or at-risk households and therefore is higher. Councilmembers also pressed staff to provide a breakdown of approved versus completed units, and to identify how many approved units are newly built rather than replacement or preserved units. Staff said they would provide the requested approvals-versus-completions numbers and backlog estimates.

On accessory dwelling units (ADUs), Pat Young of Planning and Development said the city had permitted about 260 ADUs and that while ADUs are often smaller and therefore more affordable than traditional housing, most are not yet tied to the city’s targeted affordable programs. Erica Brant, assistant director of Housing and Neighborhoods, said the homeowner repair programs are generally fully utilized but move at different paces depending on program type.

Council members asked about funding next steps as the 2020 bond winds down. Sutton said the city is already beginning internal discussions about whether to propose a new housing bond, a transportation bond, a ‘‘penny’’ funding measure or some combination, and that staff will coordinate with Wake County to avoid competing asks. She said staff expect to have clearer proposals by the summer and that a public engagement process would shape any future bond request.

On payment-in-lieu funds and the proposed flex fund, Erica Brant said there is a pilot flex fund but not yet a permanent, citywide flexible fund; she said payment-in-lieu proceeds currently go into the city’s bond program income bucket. Councilmembers asked staff to return with detail on how payment-in-lieu collections have been used historically and whether rezoning-related payments had been received in recent years.

Staff noted one potential new revenue and service source: a Medicaid 1115 waiver the state plans to implement in 2026 that may allow Medicaid to cover certain housing stabilization services and several months of rent in some cases. Sutton and staff said such federal or payer partnerships could meaningfully change program design if the waiver’s benefits materialize.

The meeting included no formal votes on the plan. Staff closed by offering to provide the council with additional metrics, production breakdowns and a per-unit subsidy analysis for current subsidies (staff said the city’s portion of average subsidy per unit was roughly $27,000 and that combined city-county subsidy averaged about $40,000 per unit).

Ending: Council members signaled interest in further work sessions, a public engagement process for any future bond or ballot measure and continued coordination with county and health partners on housing-as-health strategies. Staff committed to returning with the detailed production and subsidy data requested.