Reply to Expansion of Housing Choice Voucher Program in Ward 3?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?[/quote]

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3.  When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate.  As there have  been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave.  So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants.  Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing.  So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.[/quote]
Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control. [/quote]

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