Agenda - 05-02-2023; 6-a - Proposed Orange County FY 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan and HOME Activities

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29 at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to conduct an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (Al).The Al includes an analysis of Orange County laws, regulations, and administrative policies, procedures, and practices that affect the location, availability, and accessibility of housing.The Al also includes an assessment of conditions, both public and private, that affect fair housing choice. The Al identified the following impediments to fair housing: • A lack of affordable housing has resulted in severe rent burdens among many renters, especially those with low and moderate incomes.A majority of renters in the county are rent- burdened—spending over 30%of household income toward rent and utilities; this figure exceeds 85%for households earning below$35,000 and is still over half for households earning $35,000–$49,999. Meanwhile, over 80%of households earning under$20,000 are severely rent- burdened (meaning they pay over half their income toward rent and utilities), as are nearly 40% of households earning$20,000–$34,999. • African American and Hispanic residents face difficulties receiving conventional mortgage loans.The denial rate for first-lien, conventional mortgages for African Americans is consistently over four times that of Whites, and the denial rate for Hispanic households is between two and four times that of Whites as well.The most common reasons for denial, as noted in the HMDA data, are credit history for African Americans (33%of all denial reasons) and debt-to-income ratio for Hispanic households (49%of all denial reasons). • Based on the number of fair housing complaints filed, disabled persons face difficulties accessing fair housing. Nearly half of all fair housing complaints filed in the 2010-2018 period were filed due to discrimination based on disability. Given that the county's population with a disability is approximately 12,500, and that over a quarter of the elderly are also disabled,this is a significant barrier to fair housing. • There exists a lack of subsidized rental properties outside the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.The only public housing in the county is located in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and the vast majority of other subsidized properties are located in either Chapel Hill or Carrboro.To that end, six subsidized developments exist in Hillsborough, one exists in the Orange County portion of Mebane, and only one subsidized property exists in unincorporated Orange County. • Zoning throughout the county largely restricts the development of denser, more affordable housing. Only a handful of areas in the county are zoned for moderately dense residential development (over four lots or units per acre), and resident opposition can complicate or inhibit the development of denser housing in those areas. Given the high cost of land in service-rich neighborhoods of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, low-density zoning can prevent the construction of affordable housing. Based on the impediments above, the Al makes the following recommendations. Details on these recommendations are explained more fully in the Al. • Seek more funds for subsidized housing. Low-and moderate-income households are Annual Action Plan 25 FY 2023-2024