How Philadelphia Made a Landmark Investment in Housing

How Philadelphia Made a Landmark Investment in Housing:
To Amend or Not to Amend the HOME Initiative? That is the Question.

At the beginning of the year, Mayor Cherelle Parker introduced her “Housing Opportunities Made Easy” Initiative, or the H.O.M.E. Initiative for short. This initiative stems back to her Mayoral campaign, when she initially promised to build 30,000 units of affordable housing if elected. Now, nearly halfway through her term, that objective has changed from building 30,000 units of affordable housing to building or preserving 30,000 housing units. The current aim is to begin construction for 13,500 new units and to restore or preserve an additional 16,500 homes, both of which align with her March 2025 goals.
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How to reach these specific goals an ensure that “affordability” is met has led to some hearty debate within city council, but most are in agreement that the foundations of this plan are essential. So, what exactly is in the H.O.M.E. plan?

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The H.O.M.E. Initiative is a $2 billion investment into Philadelphia housing development. This investment is the largest single investment in housing in the history of Philadelphia. The plan is funded in two parts. 

1. The first part is the actual cash and investments which make up $800 million. This money will be acquired through city bonds, which are being taken out in the hopes that the money will lift people out of poverty and increase the general income of the city. The $800 million in bonds was recently approved by City Council.
2. The second part is approximately $1.2 billion in land and assets that Philadelphia holds which will be contributed to this project. This includes plots of land held by the city land bank, as well as materials and equipment used for both construction and repair.

Of the $800 million, Mayor Parker wishes for these funds to be split among various existing and new programs:

• Adaptive Modifications
• Basic Systems Repair Program (BSRP)
• Housing Counseling (New)
• One Philly Mortgage Program (New)
• Built to Last
• Philly First Home
• Turn the Key
• Eviction Diversion
• Restore, Repair, Renew (RRR)
• Tangled Title Fund & Tangled Title
• Facade Improvement Plan (New)
• And many other restoration and assistance programs

These programs all exist with the express purpose of making housing more accessible to those entering the market, as well as current homeowners.

While City Council unanimously agrees to this plan, there has been some contention between the Mayor’s Office and City Council on how to allocate these funds. This Initiative has come with long debates between City Council and the Mayor’s office, which led to H.O.M.E.'s final approval being pushed back to 2026. The current point of contention ties back to Mayor Parker’s initial goals of “Affordable Units.”

Many members of City Council, as well as members of the Philadelphia community, have been speaking at hearings about the H.O.M.E. Initiative and amendments that may be needed. The most contentious amendment adds language prioritizing low-income Philadelphians for the Basic Systems Repair and Adaptive Modification programs, as well as an additional $82.6 million in funds. The language added changes the threshold for applications from 100% Area Median Income (AMI), to 60% AMI. 

• 60% AMI is $50,160/year for 1 person, or $71,640 for a family of 4.
• 100% AMI is $83,600 for 1 person, or $119,400 for a family of 4.

The Administration claims that the additional language is not needed as City Hall will “meet those numbers [low-income reach] regardless.” The Administration also claims that the language “would prevent the administration from being able to issue the bonds.”

The Administration and City Council agree that Philadelphia already prioritizes low-income individuals and families, but City Council argues that these prioritizations should be codified to ensure they are met and that Philadelphia neighborhoods are not taken advantage of by large developers. Councilwoman Brooks stated during one of the hearings, “If it is not written down, it does not exist.” Council President Johnson also said that it was the responsibility of City Council to target "Philadelphians who need it most.”

On December 2nd, Philadelphia City Council unanimously advanced the amendment to a final vote before December 11th. This passage has led to a lot of disagreement from the Administration with Mayor Parker going on a “Lecture Circuit” across 10 different churches the following Sunday to advocate for her version of the H.O.M.E. Initiative. Her goal is to avoid “trying to pit the ‘have-nots’ against those who have just a little bit;” those being the people above or below the 60%-100% AMI dispute.

As of December 11th, Philadelphia City Council has passed the first year budget for the H.O.M.E. Initiative. Yet, the budget they have passed included the proposed amendment prioritizing 90% of funds for the Basic Systems Repair and Adaptive Modification programs to go towards people making 60% AMI or less. They did raise the income requirements for most other programs, and included funding for Turn The Key, which had no funding in the original proposal. As of December 12th, Mayor Parker has not commented on the passage of the Amendment.

Despite the technical disputes between City Council and the Parker Administration, the H.O.M.E. Initiative remains a landmark legislative package for Philadelphia. The Initiative will greatly expand access to affordable housing, helping hundreds of Philadelphians stay in their homes and afford costly repair bills. The additional investment in programs like Philly First Home Grant and Housing Counseling, will give AHCOPA  the ability to expand our reach and services to even more Philadelphians.

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Michael Iwan

Michael serves at AHCOPA as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Housing Action Corps