Implementation Highlights

The Financial Tools Initiative seeks to expand and further leverage County resources for affordable housing. As part of the Housing Arlington initiative the Financial Tools webpage was updated. The update provides a comprehensive review of affordable housing financing challenges, explores the various funding sources and strategies, and assesses potential solutions for affordable housing projects in Arlington.

The updated webpage includes a timeline of the County's financial tools milestones, highlighting innovative affordable housing strategies that have been employed over the years. Additionally, a project-specific example has been provided to illustrate how projects in Arlington are successfully financed using multiple funding streams.

The County’s-Housing Division has increased CAF inspections capacity from 5-10% to 20% of the portfolio annually and hired an additional staff person to focus on compliance, communication and conflict resolution.

• In FY24, the County and its third-party inspections firm completed 1,953 unit inspections.
• Of the 1,953 units, 1,800 units passed on the first inspection (92%).
• 153 units were found to have deficiencies which were repaired within the required time period.
• 76 additional units were “no entries,” either because units were being renovated, management could not gain access, or residents denied inspections.
• The 24 properties that were inspected include:

The Department of Human Services (DHS)-Housing Assistance Bureau is in the process of procuring a third-party contractor to perform Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) inspections of DHS rental-assisted properties, many of which are CAFs. A contract award is anticipated by the end of calendar year 2024.

Supporting committed affordable housing is a very tangible way the County works towards its vision of being a diverse and inclusive community. The information now provided in the affordable housing dashboard provides some insight into the demographic makeup of committed affordable housing. The data was provided by AHC, Inc., APAH, and Wesley Housing and represents a portion of the CAF resident population, including 10,189 residents in 4,734 households. Information gaps exist resulting from residents choosing not to respond to certain questions. This past year was the first year that demographic data has been presented and represents a starting point to present complete information in the future.

On Saturday, November 11, 2023, the Arlington County Board adopted the Langston Boulevard Area Plan, concluding a multiyear process. The Langston Boulevard Area Plan provides a series of policies and implementation strategies to guide future public and private development decisions in a positive, purposeful way. The adopted plan includes the following projected housing outcomes:

• An increase overall housing supply to 19,600-26,300 units by 2075.
• An increase affordable housing to 3,200-3,800 units by 2075 to enable more equitable housing options.

At adoption, the County Board amended the plan to reaffirm the goal of realizing 2,500 affordable housing units by 2040, to align with the projections in the Affordable Housing Master Plan.

Arlington County conducted a Housing Grants study that put forth recommendations on potential changes to the Housing Grants program and their corresponding financial impact.  The study garnered feedback from current/past participants, past applicants, stakeholders, and staff.  The recommendations from the study were bucketed into four categories: eligibility criteria, program requirements, staffing, and program operations. Recommendations were presented to the County Board during the FY 2025 budget cycle.

Adopted FY 2025 Recommendations include:

• Added 36-month pilot program for Homeless Transition Aged Youth and Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
• Revised working requirements from work hours to minimum income
• Added staffing capacity to support program growth.

In September 2023, Arlington County' reopened its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list for a 10-day period. The County received more than 19,000 applications worldwide through its online portal application system. A total of 5,000 applications was selected via a randomized lottery to be retained on the program's waitlist.

The redevelopment of the group home for 1212 Irving St. began in March 2022 and was completed in Spring 2023. This home has the capacity for 6 individuals with high exceptional medical and behavioral needs. The cost for the operation of the group home is projected to be $800,000, which will be offset by an estimated $600,000 in qualified Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) reimbursements for DD Medicaid Waiver services. Since all residents will be recipients of a Medicaid Waiver, this will result in reduced costs to the County. The home is a certified universally designed and net zero home.

Arlington County entered into an agreement with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to administer State Rental Assistance Program Vouchers. In FY 2023, the County's HCVP was awarded 10 state vouchers to provide adults with developmental disabilities that live in less integrated settings (such as nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, group homes and with their families of origin) with a rental subsidy support to establish their own households in more integrated housing settings informed by choice. These vouchers will continue to be reissued to eligible households upon turnover.

Arlington County's Continuum of Care (CoC) explores new funding opportunities to support efforts in preventing and ending homelessness. In 2022, the CoC successfully competed in the Supplemental Notice of Funding Opportunity for unsheltered homelessness, resulting in a 3-year HUD award for a Joint Transitional Housing and Rapid ReHousing project ($1.2m).  Arlington County's CoC also leveraged Community Solutions funding (a nonprofit collaborative aimed to end homeless across communities) for a 2-year grant term to provide staffing support for data analysis and reporting of its Zero for All initiative - a central component of the CoC's Strategic Plan ($291,773).

A packet of easy-to-understand resources was developed and distributed to more than 9,000 residents of committed affordable units.  Packet included information on tenant landlord issues, housing resources, and pest management.   

A Fair Housing Awareness campaign was launched in April 2024 and outreach materials on renter rights and responsibilities and County resources were developed and distributed to 9,000+ CAF properties.

A survey was conducted by BU-GATA on behalf of Arlington County, with the goal of gathering insights into the experiences of residents living in committed affordable units (CAFs) in Arlington. The primary objectives of the survey were to assess participating residents’ satisfaction with their living conditions, identify challenges the residents face, and explore opportunities for improvement. The data collected will inform future policy decisions to enhance the quality of affordable housing in Arlington. Overall, respondents expressed satisfaction with their living conditions and community amenities, with 67.33% giving a satisfaction rating of 4 or 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is high), full results can be found here.

In FY 2024, through the Community Development Fund, the County provided funding for a pilot program to make accessibility modifications for renters. Rebuilding Together’s Volunteer Home Repair Program will make critical home repairs for at least 17 low- and moderate-income homeowner and renter households. They will work with Aging and Disability Services and the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia to identify low-income tenants who need accessibility modifications completed in their rental units.

Following work to develop a vision and goals for Arlington’s homeownership programs in collaboration with the community, County staff released the Homeownership Study’s draft recommendations in September 2024, which consist of two documents:  

• Consultant Report: Arlington County Homeownership Study Program Recommendations
• County Staff Response to Consultant Recommendations

Staff will work with the Homeownership Subcommittee, the full Housing Commission, other County advisory boards, and stakeholders to hear additional ideas that could potentially expand the recommendations.

The Human Rights Ordinance was amended to include source of funds as a protected class.  The ‘source of funds” protection prevents discrimination based on a tenants use of Housing Choice Voucher or other forms of financial assistance. This aligns County policy with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s human rights requirements.  

The Department of Human Services created a new position in January 2024, a Landlord Relationship Manager.  This role includes oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rental payment standards, management of the Housing Assistance Bureau’s landlord and compliance portals, conducting outreach to existing and prospective landlords to help improve communication, providing technical assistance and facilitating rent negotiations. 

Also in DHS, a two-year overstrength Housing Location position was approved (in FY 2023) to aid residents facing housing eviction or displacement. This staff attends court during eviction docket hearings to provide interventions and timely assessment of potential housing needs to residents. DHS is seeking to extend this position and/or request it be converted to a full-time permanent position due to ongoing needs.

The Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development created a new position in August 2023, a Housing Asset Collaboration Manager.  This role includes compliance reviews and working with landlords to address complex issues.