Wake County partners with banks to protect existing affordable housing

A new initiative officially launched Wednesday to save existing affordable housing in Wake County.

Posted 2:38 p.m. Oct 26, 2022 — Updated 2:49 p.m. Oct 26, 2022

Lora Lavigne

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — A new initiative officially launched Wednesday to save existing affordable housing in Wake County.

At 9 a.m., county leaders announced the launch of the Wake County Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, which aims to protect the affordable housing that already exists in the county. The multimillion dollar initiative involves many partners.

The Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the fund in 2021 with a $10.5 million loan and multi-year contract with a Durham-based nonprofit financial institution, Self-Help Ventures Fund. The goal is to partner with big banks like Wells Fargo, Truist Bank and First Horizon Bank with with commitments to preserve available housing.

The city of Raleigh has also committed $4 million to do the same in city limits.

Since 2010, Wake County lost 59% of its housing units with rent below $750 per month and 40% of units with rent below $1,000 per month.

“It’s far easier to preserve a resource than to recreate it,” said Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Matt Calabria. “By protecting our existing affordable housing, we can ensure families who’ve lived in affordable neighborhoods for generations don’t have to worry about getting priced out of their homes.”

Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin made remarks at Wednesday's announcement.

Baldwin expressed earlier this year she believes such investments are critical as inflation rates reach 40-year highs and economists project some level of a recession later this year. Polling shows inflation and the cost of living these days is the top issue among voters from both major political parties nationwide.

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In addition to protecting existing housing, there are plans in place for denser housing, which could cost less and more efficiently organize the county. Some citizens and groups have expressed concern about developments, like Save Our Neighborhoods, which started in the Hayes Barton neighborhood in response to a developer's plan to tear down a home at 908 Williamson Drive and replace it with 17 townhomes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raleigh City Council changed the city’s zoning code to allow for smaller homes on smaller lots and denser development near high-frequency transit. The concept, called missing middle housing, is a cross between single-family homes and large apartment buildings, according to the city.

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The changes allow duplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings in more neighborhoods and on smaller lots across Raleigh, creating more affordable housing options.and saving on energy costs.

According to the city of Raleigh website, "Because missing middle units share walls or ceilings with other units, they are substantially more energy-efficient than detached houses. According to the Department of Energy, a unit in a two-to-four-unit apartment uses half the energy of a detached house, and a townhouse uses about two-thirds of that amount."

As Baldwin explained, “If you can build three townhomes instead of one home, we have now housed three families. If you can build a duplex, we’ve housed two families instead of one in a McMansion.”

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