October 3, 2018 (Portland, OR) – A new report by the Portland Housing Bureau on the City’s Inclusionary Housing (IH) program shows that in the first 18 months, the City has permitted, or is in process to permit, at least 362 affordable units resulting from 43 development projects submitted under the IH program to date. Together these projects account for nearly 2,300 new housing units added to the city’s overall housing stock.

“Inclusionary Housing is the cornerstone of our work to ensure housing options for Portlanders at every income level,” said Housing Bureau interim director Shannon Callahan. “We’re proud of the progress so far and we’re working with our partners and the development community to ensure its continued success.”

As of February 1, 2017, all residential buildings in Portland proposing 20 or more units are required to provide a percentage of the new housing at rents affordable to households at 80% of median family income (currently $58,640 for a family of three), with an emphasis on households earning 60% MFI or less (up to $43,980 for a family of three).

The City estimates that the affordable housing that has been produced in privately financed projects under IH so far would be equivalent to a $32 million-dollar public subsidy, based on the average per-unit cost to the City to develop affordable rental housing. As an added benefit, many of these units are located in high-opportunity areas throughout the city.

The report also highlights development trends as well local housing market indicators. In Portland, multifamily permitting continues to advance despite signals that the market cycle is beginning to ebb, meanwhile, the pipeline of pre-IH units continues to decline as post-IH projects are increasing and moving through the land use and permitting process. Based on the analysis, the Housing Bureau makes a number of recommendations for program refinements in order to encourage this progress. Among other modest adjustments, the Housing Bureau has recommended maintaining the policy’s current inclusion rates in the neighborhoods outside the Central City and delaying the ramp up that was originally scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2019 by another two years.

“I am pleased the Housing Bureau is continuing to monitor this program closely and making adjustments as needed to ensure it’s working to create more workforce housing for Portland and supporting the smart growth of our city,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Click here to read the full report. Find more information and a map of the current of Inclusionary Housing project pipeline here.

Key Highlights:

• 8,294 units (in buildings with 20+ units) from the pre-IH vested pipeline remain in some stage of permitting
• 8,578 units (in buildings with 20+ units) have entered permitting, land use review, or pre-application/early assistance since IH went into effect
• 362 affordable inclusionary housing units (in projects with 2,269 total units) have permitted or are close to permitting
• Multifamily permitting in 2017 set a historic high at over 6,000 permits
• Market indicators are signaling a shift in the market cycle based on factors unrelated to the IH program