In early July, Congress passed the largest housing affordability bill in decades with broad bipartisan support. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes 59 provisions aimed at increasing the nation’s housing supply and making homeownership more accessible amid an affordability crisis in which even low-income units are out of reach for some Americans. Two months after the comprehensive bill passed, Oklahoma advocates and policymakers are looking to it as a tool to help solve the state’s affordable housing deficit. The ideas range from creating a statewide housing task force to ending single-family zoning, making it easier to build affordable housing developments. Sabine Brown, a housing policy analyst for Oklahoma Policy Institute, said the bill is a first step and that Oklahoma leaders need to address the state’s affordable housing shortage and eviction rates. One provision caps how many single-family homes big investors can buy. Other provisions allow developers to skip an environmental review if a house is built between two buildings already reviewed. One provision creates a grant program communities can use to develop a collection of preapproved housing designs. Manufactured homes also get a break. The law removes a requirement that they have a permanent chassis, making the homes cheaper and making more elaborate manufactured homes easier to build. Oklahoma’s Affordable Housing Paradox No state has an adequate housing supply for low-income renters, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. In Oklahoma, the coalition estimates the state lacks 84,125 units to house low-income families. “There are a lot of different things that need to happen, and there are many different levers that policymakers could pull to increase housing,” Brown said. “For starters, one thing that would be really helpful is to form a statewide housing commission or task force and just develop a plan to address housing in the state of Oklahoma.” In past legislative sessions, Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, have partnered to push the creation of an Oklahoma workforce housing commission, but the proposition ultimately failed. Kirt said a commission is still needed. “Right now, we really are relying on cities and local developers to come up with these solutions,” Kirt said. Brown said a commission was needed because there must be agreement on what the problems are and how to solve them. Joel Wilson, with Simple Property Management, said the bill reflects how the average American feels about homeownership, but he questioned whether it would do enough to incentivize affordable development. He said manufactured-home builders may be more incentivized to make their housing affordable than traditional builders under the law. “I think you’ll probably see more manufacturers solving this issue than asking traditional builders to revert to something that doesn’t make them as much money,” Wilson said. A system is underway to develop units across Oklahoma, but the costs to build and maintain them are high, pricing out renters statewide. This paradox has no single solution. Brown said one way to increase affordable housing development across the state could be to change zoning laws to allow duplexes, triplexes, and accessory dwellings. “That is something that is also a part of the ROAD to Housing Act,” Brown said. “HUD will develop recommendations for what states should be doing as far as zoning.” Brown said Oklahoma could follow the lead of other states, such as Montana, Texas and Washington, by ending single-family zoning. Research shows those policies drive housing costs down. Wilson suggested tax incentives for developers who produce affordable housing. Not Just Increasing Affordable Housing Brown said the act does not fix Oklahoma’s broken eviction process or the lack of protections for tenants when dealing with bad-actor landlords. “The bill does a lot, but it is going to take a while to build the housing that we need. So, in the meantime, we still need to be protecting folks now and helping folks find and stay in stable housing.”Sabine Brown, Oklahoma Policy Institute Kirt and Pae each introduced bills last legislative session to add stronger protections for Oklahoma renters. Kirt’s bill would have excluded Sundays and federal holidays from Oklahoma’s eviction timeline, and Pae’s bill would have given tenants the ability to seek injunctive relief. Both bills failed. “We don’t have protections and standards,” Kirt said. Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of City Care, an Oklahoma City-based homeless shelter and affordable housing provider, said that Oklahoma’s eviction laws, combined with the lack of affordable housing, particularly harms extremely low-income Oklahomans. Extremely Low-Income Renters “I’m particularly interested in how the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is going to impact those who are extremely low-income, because that to me seems to be the most acute issue,” Freeman said. Most renters considered extremely low-income are either in the labor force, seniors or have a disability, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. The extremely low-income group makes up 26% of Oklahoma renters. “They are disproportionately over cost-burdened,” Freeman said. “It creates this very vulnerable state where, of those folks making that low income, 71% of them are extremely cost-burdened.” The percentage of extremely low-income renters who are severely cost-burdened is actually higher, with the coalition estimating that 83% of extremely low-income renters are severely cost-burdened. “They are one crisis or unexpected expense away from not being able to make ends meet,” Freeman said. Freeman said the new federal law should focus on cost-burdened renters. “I will never criticize an opportunity to build up housing stock, but my particular interest is, will there be units dedicated to 26% of renting households who are extremely low-income?” Freeman said. That may not be a simple task. Wilson said wages may need to take the lead to make housing more affordable. “To keep good people and to have the type of business we want to have, I would rather see their wages appreciate more than I would like to see a 10% correction in the housing market,” Wilson said. “I don’t know that the group we’re worried about affording housing is going to even be affected (by the bill).” Similarly, Freeman acknowledged that building dedicated housing for low-income families would be hard without a wage increase. “It’s hard to build housing that is truly affordable for that 26%,” she said. The coalition estimates that a $30,000 annual income is the average limit for a four-person extremely low-income household. “I don’t know if this makes any effective change for our people that we want to be housed,” Wilson said. Full Benefits Could Take Years While housing advocates across the country praise the new law, it may take years to implement. New research shows that the first few years of implementation will be handled mostly by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has already shed a significant amount of staff compared with last year. That led experts to believe that the full benefits of the act for local governments could take years, according to an analysis from the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders and the Center for Affordable Housing Lending. In that time, Oklahoma families are still at risk of being priced out of the housing market and rental markets. “The bill does a lot, but it is going to take a while to build the housing that we need,” Brown said. “So, in the meantime, we still need to be protecting folks now and helping folks find and stay in stable housing.” Jake Ramsey covers evictions, housing and homelessness. Contact him at (405) 370-3798 or [email protected]. 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