LEARN

Race and Housing

Understanding Affordable Housing

Missing Middle Housing

Affordable Housing Investment Fund

Accessory Dwellings

Market Rate Affordable Housing

WHAT IS MARKET RATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING?

WHAT IS MARKET RATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING?

In the broadest sense, housing is considered “affordable” if a person pays less than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs.

So what do people mean when they use the term “affordable housing”?

It can be used to describe housing that receives some form of government subsidy to keep rents low. It can also mean housing that’s naturally affordable simply because the market rent for the units falls into the range that can be considered affordable to a low- or moderate-income household. This usually occurs due to amenities, condition, age, and/or location of the units.

Dorchester Towers, located on Columbia Pike, is an example of market-rate affordable housing in Arlington.

In Arlington, these apartments are referred to as market rate affordable housing or MARKs. Many, but not all, of the older garden apartment buildings in Arlington can be classified as MARKs.

n the last 20 years, more than 16,000 formerly market-rate affordable units are no longer affordable to households making 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI)—or $120,560 for a family of four (2023).  

Much of that is due to rent increases, but older apartments are also being redeveloped into higher cost rental housing or luxury townhomes.

Preserving Market-rate Affordable Housing

In 2015, Arlington County identified preservation of MARKS as a priority in the Affordable Housing Master Plan. To help in this preservation, the County uses the following tools:

  • The Housing Conservation District (HCD) is a planning district comprised of apartments on 382 properties in 12 areas throughout the county that provides incentives to property owners to help keep housing affordable.
  • The Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) is a revolving, low-interest loan that helps developers finance new or redeveloped properties.  AHIF can be used to help finance the purchase of a property that is at-risk of market rate redevelopment and preserve all or some of the units as committed affordable units.
  • Planning and zoning tools including:
    • Affordable Housing Ordinance—offers developers seeking additional density in the site plan process the choice of providing affordable units or contributing to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
    • Special Affordable Housing Protection District (SAHPD)—identifies existing affordable housing sites within the County’s two Metro Corridors that are planned for site plan projects of 3.24 FAR or higher. The SAHPD requires that 100% of the affordable housing be replaced in any redevelopment.
    • Bonus Density and Height—allows the County Board to approve additional height and/or residential density for both market-rate and low- or moderate income housing where a proposed site plan project complies with all requirements.

There are 12 areas included in the Housing Conservation District: Leeway Overlee, John M. Langston, Waverly Hills, Spout Run/Lyon Village, North Highlands – East, North Highlands – West, Westover, Lyon Park – North, Lyon Park – South, Penrose, Shirlington/Fairlington, and Long Branch Creek.

Additional Information