The Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce, along with members of the Charlottesville City Council, Albemarle Supervisors and the Piedmont Housing Alliance, met Wednesday to discuss problems and policies connected to housing affordability, a subject which has the potential to affect students living off-Grounds.
Housing affordability issues are not limited to the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, but stem from a nationwide problem, according to Larry Banner, vice president of the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce. The problems with the housing market in Charlottesville, however, are exacerbated because there is a greater demand for housing than the area can accommodate.
"We're the No. 1 city in America," Banner said. "People want to live here. Our area attracts people for all sorts of reasons, and [the housing] can't keep up."
Stuart Armstrong, president of the Piedmont Housing Alliance and a speaker at Wednesday's meeting, said a variety of factors influence the housing market, including national trends -- such as the "Baby Boom impact" in which more people in the older generation are buying second homes at the same time that their children are purchasing first homes -- as well as aspects specifically related to Virginia and Charlottesville.
For example, Virginia has some of the lowest taxes in the country, which has led to an increased number of retirees in the state, Armstrong said.
To Banner, however, the major problem in Charlottesville concerns escalating housing values.
"As property values increase and home values increase, taxes increase," he said.
The increased cost to homeowners could potentially affect students who live off-Grounds. In cases in which owners use rent money to pay for costs associated with the property, such as taxes, they might be prompted to increase renter's monthly fees to cover the difference, Banner said.
At the meeting, the Chamber discussed two possible solutions to the housing problem, including accelerating the process for building new properties.
"The county of Albemarle is looking at streamlining the process to get developments okayed," Banner said. "Some of the costs involved in development are incurred on the front-end in the process of development. Albemarle is known for a stringent process to get an okay on development. If we streamline the process, that will bring down the front-end cost."
Another possibility involves supporting programs that help future homeowners make initial down-payments on housing purchases. According to Banner, The Charlottesville Association of Realtors has created a workforce housing fund, a program to assist people who work for the community, such as teachers or firefighters, with down payments.
Armstrong emphasized how alignment of public policies -- both at the national, state and local levels and of public and private interests -
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