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The City of Lancaster looks to increase affordable housing
Cris Collingwood//June 27, 2022
The City of Lancaster is looking for proposals for affordable housing units.
The city is seeking proposals from not-for-profit-companies, real estate developers, and other community partners interested in increasing the number and quality of affordable housing units within Lancaster using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Sealed proposals will be accepted via the Pennsylvania Electronic Document and Bid Management website, www.penn.bid.net, through 11 a.m. Aug. 22.
Lancaster city was allotted $39.5 million in ARPA funding in 2021.
Last September, a public engagement process regarding the use of ARPA funds was launched, according to a city press release. The public identified affordable housing as their top priority.
Lancaster City Council voted last October to allocate $5 million of the ARPA funds to address affordable housing needs.
Lancaster faces a housing cost burden driven by a shortage in housing supply and the prevalence of families facing wage stagnation or low-wage jobs as the cost of living continues to rise, a dynamic facing many communities nationally, the city said.
Housing studies and planning show a need for a minimum of 300 additional affordable housing units and rehabilitation of a minimum of 1,000 existing affordable housing units within the city over the next five years.
Approximately one-third of households are housing cost burdened, a condition that has become more precarious because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city said.
It is Lancaster’s intention to increase the supply, quality, and diversity of housing in the city with an emphasis on increasing and improving affordable housing for both rent and purchase.
