Pittsburgh City Council approves $10M budget for Housing Opportunity Fund

Pittsburgh City Council has approved a $10 million budget for the city’s Housing Opportunity Fund.

More than $3.8 million of the budget is allocated for rental gap financing, which aims to help in building more affordable rental housing units in the city. Most of that money — about $3 million — will be designated for housing for people making no more than 30% of the area median income.

The area median income for the Pittsburgh area ranges from $66,400 for an individual to over $125,000 for a family of eight. That makes 30% of the area median income about $19,900 for a single person and up to $37,560 for a family of eight.

The Housing Opportunity Fund’s budget also allocates $900,000 for a program to build affordable housing that is for sale. It is geared toward people making no more than 80% of the area median income, which ranges from just over $53,000 for one person to over $100,000 for an eight-person family.

The fund also budgets more than $2.1 million for the homeowner assistance program that helps lower-income residents make home repairs.

Also included in the budget is $555,000 for the housing stabilization program to provide short-term financial help for renters experiencing emergencies; $550,000 for down payment assistance for low-income people buying their first homes; $500,000 for the legal assistance program that helps low-income individuals with legal housing issues; and $400,000 for the small landlord fund that aims to increase the availability of affordable rental units for people with Housing Choice Vouchers.

An additional $1 million is budgeted for administration costs.

This comes as city leaders have said they are working to address what many have called an affordable housing crisis in the city.