2020 Housing Challenge Seeks Innovative Policy Solutions to Increase Affordable Housing

Fairfax County is at a crossroads when it comes to affordable housing — particularly for low- or moderate-income households.
The number of people spending more than 30% of their monthly income on housing is growing: more than 44% of renters and about 23% of homeowners. Rents are also rising at a faster pace than incomes.
To find creative affordable housing solutions, Fairfax County and the George Mason University School of Business are holding a policy hackathon called the 2020 Housing Challenge.
They are seeking new ideas from residents, students, housing advocates, industry professionals and policy experts, and this event aims to come up with innovative policies to increase affordable housing.
Teams will be asked to develop and present solutions to one of these three challenges, and a panel of judges will evaluate and award cash prizes to the top teams.
This event builds on the Housing Hackathon held last January, and the county plans to consider all proposed solutions from this year’s challenge event to advance its affordable housing efforts.
What the County Is Doing
Last year, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted its Communitywide Housing Strategic Plan and the goal of producing a minimum of 5,000 new affordable homes within the next 15 years (“5k by 15”) — as a start; however, when it comes to meeting and surpassing that goal, success will be a communitywide achievement.
Why Affordable Housing Matters
The lack of affordable housing impacts everyone. What’s the result?
It makes it more difficult to attract and keep the workers that keep our community and economy vibrant and growing, ranging from nurses to teachers to service/sales workers and public safety employees.
Our roads become more congested with commuters driving to Fairfax County from more affordable places across the region and beyond.
Families face the reality of going without everyday essentials like food, clothing and medical care in order to pay their rent.
Residents go deeper into debt and see an expanding chasm between their present circumstance and self-sufficiency.
Source: Fairfaxcounty