This article demonstrates the numero uno problem with so-called "affordable housing" complexes that are managed by private RE development companies.

They might put up a building using similar architectural plans to one being rented out at market rates, but they don't provide the same level of maintenance and upkeep on the property, and they skimp on or close off entirely common areas in such buildings that make living in a relatively small and cramped unit more bearable.

Although not exactly the same thing, my current living situation which has me in about a 200 sq ft room would be incredibly claustrophobic if that was where I had to spend the whole day, but right outside the door is a common area I share with 16 other gomers & cripples that is about 1000 sq ft.  Out past that is an even bigger commons for all 6 of the 17 room wards, then upstairs is a dining room probably 3000 sq ft.  Then outside we have a garden and smoking area as well.  So even in winter I can leave my room and roll around the building.

I have applied for 3 affordable housing agencies, Alaska Housing run by the state, Cook Inlet Housing run by a Native non-profit corp, and Neighbor Works, a private RE developer and mgmt company which has about a dozen properties.  In order to qualify for the tax credits, all the buildings are supposed to have some units reserved for low income.  In practice, the company only offers one building, a renovated SRO Hotel in downtown Anchorage with studios the size of my room here in the Gulag.  There are no common areas, all the rooms are off a long narrow hallway with emergency stairwells at either end and an elevator in the middle.  It's the only building I have been offered an apartment in after more than a year on the waiting lists.  Obviously, I turned it down.

By contrast, the units offered by both Alaska Housing and Cook Inlet have extensive common areas and the 1 bedroom units around 550-650 sq ft in size with a full kitchen, not kitchenette.  The one across the street has a pool table, a full library room with computers, an exercise room and a communal kitchen and party room if you have a big gathering.

Private for profit capitalists will always skimp out on anything not legally required to get their tax abatement, and they always have less scheduled maintenance with cheaper contractors.  Even if the building looked nice when they cut the ribbon, in 2-3 years it's a mess.

Tax abatements to cut the building costs and pad the profits on affordable housing are not enough to insure that for-profit RE mgmt companies provide reasonable and well maintained common areas for low income residents.  Just as there need to be minimum size standards for each unit, there needs to be a minimum size for common areas depending on how many units and residents the building is designed for.  Maintenance contracts need to be reviewed and approved each year before the company receives its tax credits.  Contractors need to keep logs of their work and hours on site, also reviewed by the housing authority, not the mgmt company alone.  Contractors who regularly fail to maintain  thr properties in good condition need to be decertified and fined.

Low income affordable housing doesn't need to be palatial with huge panoramic views and doormen, but it should be clean and comfortable to live in and not claustrophobic.  Closet size units with no more living space than a prison cell is not a viable solution to the housing crisis.

https://greenpointers.com/2024/04/23/affordable-housing-tenants-in-greenpoint-describe-squalid-conditions-in-luxury-building-complex/

Affordable Housing Tenants in Greenpoint Describe Squalid Conditions in Luxury Building Complex

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