City adopts new affordable housing rules

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, April 11, 2019

The Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) has released the new rules for the city’s affordable housing program.

The rules took effect on March 31 and implement the affordable housing requirements in Ordinance 18-10 and other approvals issued by the city. The rules do not include affordable housing requirements imposed as a condition of a zone change, which is administered under its own rules.

The intent of the program is to increase the inventory of affordable units throughout the island for households earning 120 percent and below of Honolulu’s area median income. The program provides a certain number of affordable units in a variety of types that are dispersed throughout a project. The units must be constructed and delivered before or simultaneously with the market units, and the number of bedrooms in affordable units must be the same or more as in the market housing units.

The rules also:

• Describe options the developers have to fulfill the affordable housing requirements.
• Specify eligibility requirements for applying households.
• Include marketing and reporting requirements for developers and buyers of these units.

“These new rules represent a major milestone in implementing the city’s affordable housing program by essentially having both large developers and small property owners contribute to increasing Honolulu’s affordable housing supply,” said Kathy Sokugawa, DPP acting director. “This is not something that government can do alone, but collectively we can make a positive difference over time.”

For a copy of the new rules, see https://bit.ly/2HplUr4.

-PAU-