Report: Henrico makes strides in housing stability

An annual report on affordable housing in the region credits Henrico County with making significant advances in creating more subsidized housing.

The county in 2021 executed its fifth agreement with a private housing group, allowing $6 million to be put toward renovating 114 units in Henrico, a figure that represents about $55,00 in renovations per unit, said Jovan Burton, executive director of the Partnership for Housing Affordability.

The partnership presented its report at the State of Housing in the Richmond Region meeting on Jan. 20 at the Westin Hotel in Henrico.

Despite an increase in homelessness and the number of people on wait lists for affordable housing because of COVID on the housing market, Burton said the region made important strides in 2021.

When discussing the need for transitional and permanent supportive housing, Burton highlighted the dwelling unit language changes Henrico has made in its recent zoning update.

These updates include the ability to renovate and add-on spaces near family homes, like a garage or attic, to make space for multi-generational families, according to Chapter 24 of the Henrico County Code.

“And the importance of this cannot be understated because we have a growing region, a more diverse region with varying housing preferences,” Burton said. Multigenerational households, for example, have become more common.

Henrico benefited from a number of resources made available by the PHA related to the issue of housing instability.

More than 7,800 local residents who faced some sort of housing instability used the Housing Resource Line, for example, Burton said. Of those calls, nearly a third came from Henrico County, according to the PHA Annual Report.

Regionally, Area Congregation Together and Service (or ACTS), collaborated with Chesterfield County and the city of Richmond throughout 2021, helping distribute more than $16 million in rent relief, which helped more than 2,200 households, Burton said.

In 2021, Virginia Housing provided $40 million to districts across the state to promote affordable housing, and $3 million of that went to the Richmond district, said Annette Cousins of Community Foundations.

PHA awarded five organizations funds from the $3 million allotted to the Richmond district for separate projects, to help produce 258 new units of affordable housing, Cousins said. The new units will also foster bring economic, health, and educational benefits to 264 low to moderate income households across the region, she said.

Looking forward this year, legislation will play a major role in the changes the PHA hopes to see in housing, Burton said.

Black homeownership in the Richmond region in 2018 was lower than it was in the 1970s, he said. The Amandla Fund for Racial Justice declared the goal of having Black and white homeownership to be equal by 2040. Burton said creating more access to credit nationwide could add nearly 700,000 Black homeowners.

The PHA will continue to use proven resources and plans to help as many families as possible, he said.

“We know that the best solution is housing,” he said. “We’ve seen some of those efforts build towards short term needs and efforts like the Amandla Fund for Racial Justice and other policy changes are building the foundation for our future and long-term stability.”