A new development fund, which has been brought together from a variety of places, will help subsidize the development of approximately 1,500 affordable housing units around New Orleans for a one-year time period. The money, which came from pandemic relief grants, bond issues and a separate fund, and the Neighborhood Housing Improvement Fund, are one-time financial commitments from one-time money sources.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New Orleans would need to build more than 40,000 affordable housing units in order to meet the national rate of affordable housing units per capita. However, the
developers of the 1,500 units currently in certain phases of construction are grateful for the additional $32 million that was approved by the New Orleans City Council to assist in these development projects.
A lot of the money is going to cover the “gap” in financing from a 30% increase in insurance rates last year and a 40% increase in insurance rates this year. Because much of the original developer funding came through government resources, the insurance requirements are pretty much non-negotiable. The additional money approved will go to paying the increase in these premiums in addition to the increase in mortgage rates and construction costs.
In addition to the developer funding the New Orleans City Council also approved $120 million in funding for mental health care for public school students, homeless services, vehicles and other equipment, as well as other city funding.
Some say that this “just a start,” but that more funding will be needed in order to solve the problem for unhoused residents in the New Orleans area.
