Washington, D.C., is in a housing crisis — and it’s hitting working individuals and families particularly hard. Our essential workers — teachers, first responders, hospitality and health care professionals — are being priced out of the very communities they serve. Many are working multiple jobs and still struggling to afford stable housing. And it isn’t enough.
As a mission-driven nonprofit that acquires and preserves affordable and workforce housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods, we at the Washington Housing Conservancy see the impact daily. We exist to ensure that the people who help keep this city running can afford to live here. Yet our ability to deliver affordable housing is being stymied by outdated policies that — while well-intentioned — are now actively undermining affordability efforts.
These policies were layered onto an already overregulated system defined by some of the longest eviction timelines, strictest rent controls and most complex property transfer…
