Doug Shimell

As if we didn’t already know this, Philly renters have very little affordable housing to choose from.

The crisis Hapco Philadelphia has warned of for years is highlighted in a new study.

It confirms the renter bidding wars HP has reported on months ago.

City Council Needs to Pass Derek Green’s New Bill

By Greg Wertman, President, Hapco Philadelphia

Rooming houses weren’t always dirty words.

When this country was formed in Philadelphia, many of the Founding Fathers lived in what were basically rooming or boarding houses while they drafted the U.S. Constitution.

In the 1930’s, the Philadelphia Tribune estimated there were at least 50,000 SROs, or “Single Room Occupancy” units, in Philadelphia.  In the 1950s, 10-percent of New York City’s housing were SROs.

So, what the Hell happened?

Politicians eventually wanted more single-family housing and branded rooming and boarding houses as dumping grounds for drug addicts and the down-and-out.  New York banned new construction of SROs in 1955.  And the resulting zoning changes around the country essentially did away with SROs.

Housing experts contend the rise in homelessness nationwide is due in part to the demise of the rooming and boarding houses.

How many are there in the Philadelphia today? According to L&I, there are just 82 legally licensed SROs.  And when asked by city council members how many calls L&I gets about illegal SROs, they estimated between 400 and 500 in a year.

A community development corporation in West Philadelphia back in 2017 mapped 40 illegal rooming houses along four commercial corridors. How many were issued violations? None!

So why don’t we have more SROs?

It’s because they are banned in all single and multi-family zones, except for high density—which are found in mostly Center City and University City.  If you wanted to file an appeal with the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the chances of them granting a variance are slim and none.

Wouldn’t more SROs help with the city’s affordable housing crisis?

At-large council member Derek Greens has proposed new legislation would make SROs legal in multifamily and commercial zoning districts.  The bill would not allow SROs in neighborhoods zoned single family and they cannot be within 500 feet of each other in any part of the city.

At least three council members plan to introduce legislation that exempt their districts from Green’s bill. Not surprised? You aren’t the only one.

Former longtime L&I commissioner David Perri went before City Council back in 2018 to get it to change the zoning to increase legal SROs, as well as get those operating illegally to get a license.

Perri’s argued that it would increase the number of affordable housing units and hopefully get more illegally operated SRO’s to get licensed. Unfortunately, his plea fell on deaf ears.

Let’s hope Derek Green’s legislation doesn’t fall victim to the same ignorance.

The Local Initiatives Support Council Philadelphia (LISC) has released its recommendation for prioritizing and spending monies from the new Housing Options Grant Program.

The affordable housing grants are to be administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

The new 2022-2023 federal budget set aside $375-million in additional funding for affordable housing.  And $100-million of that has been set aside for a Housing Options Grant Program.

LISC advocates targeting the grants toward preservation of smaller rental property owners with fewer than 50 units.

Hapco Philadelphia has been asked to provide feedback on those recommendations as part of The Preservation Network.  AND YOU CAN HELP!

Hapco Philadelphia members have been the primary providers of affordable rental housing in Philly for decades.

And despite City Council’s best efforts to tax, fee, and regulate our members out of the low-to-moderate-income housing market, HP members continue to provide low- and moderate-income housing opportunities, as well as market-rate rental units.

What concerns us about the recently proposed Eviction Expungement bills in Harrisburg is the likelihood that a bad tenant’s past will be hidden from future rental property owners.  That restricts our sector of the economy from the protections given to other businesses seeking quality of credit history.

The bills in the PA House and Senate would seal a tenant’s eviction record under certain circumstances, making it tough for rental owners to tell good renters from bad ones.  It essentially punishes good tenants by putting them on the same level with problem tenants.

Good renters shouldn’t be punished for being good.  Whereas, bad renters should be punished for being bad.

It’s one thing to give good tenants a second chance.  It’s quite another to keep moving bad tenants from one property to the next.

And as always, these proposed bills would hurt Mom & Pop rental owners the most, as it only takes one bad renter to put a small owner underwater.

Hapco Philadelphia has warned of the existing affordable housing crisis for years.  And City Council’s excessive rental rules, regulations, and fees have pushed rental owners out of the market and put low-to-moderate-income housing on the verge of extinction.

HP feels city government itself is the reason Philadelphia doesn’t thrive in a way that benefits all of its residents.

While displacement like the evictions at the University City Townhomes is a sad downside to growth and wealth, City Council was slow to negotiate a better outcome for displaced tenants.

And more similar scenarios may be on the way.

Philadelphia City Hall warned property owners back in May of averages value increases of 31%.

And Hapco Philadelphia has been urging its members to brace themselves for a tax hike and to get their appeals ready to file.

The assessment notices are expected to be mailed out by the end of August.