Delaware Business Roundtable Endorses Affordable Housing Bills

The Delaware Business Roundtable endorsed a slate of affordable housing bills developed by State Senator Russ Huxtable. The legislative package under consideration this week has strong bipartisan support and foresight to strengthen the First State economy and competitive edge.

Like most states, Delaware employers face a growing workforce availability challenge and affordable housing is critical to attracting and retaining talent.

The need for affordable housing and workforce housing is part of the Roundtable’s “Delaware Investment Agenda” released this spring.

Roundtable chairman and EDiS CEO Brian DiSabatino applauded Sen. Huxtable and the bipartisan group of lawmakers backing the set of bills.

The First State is experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis. The 2023 DSHA Housing Needs Assessment indicated that Delaware needs an additional 19,000 affordable units and that 8 percent of Delawareans are experiencing homelessness, living in cars, and whatever space they can find.

“Having an affordable place to call home is core to Delaware’s quality of life and sense of community. This is a key area for Delaware to continually focus and invest if we want to remain competitive with a strong, equitable economy,” declared DiSabatino. “To be clear, these bills are important first steps, and they are the hopeful beginning of an effort to seriously address the issue of affordable housing and workforce housing in Delaware.”

The bills include:

SB 244, which allows a county that imposes a lodging tax to spend money from that tax on workforce and affordable housing programs.
SB 25, which exempts contracts for the construction of affordable housing units from the 2% realty transfer tax assessed for improvements.
SB 22, which establishes a Delaware Workforce Housing Program modeled after the Downtown Development District Program and allows for a grant up to 20 percent of the capital costs tied to creation of workforce housing unit.
SB 245, which removes sunsets for the Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Financial Education and the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, which was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and funded by the Department of Justice.
SB 246, which codifies the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Housing Repair and Modification Fund serving low- and very-low income homeowners in need of home-repair assistance.

Contact: Robert Perkins, executive director, 302-545-1795