Housing Programs

COG's Housing Programs cover a broad array of issues important to area local governments and their housing partners. These include data on the region's housing stock, Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher programs, homelessness, housing affordability, concentration of affordable housing, fair housing, and neighborhood redevelopment. COG works to provide current, accessible information that will help inform regional and local policies. Current COG Housing Program efforts include implementation of the Metropolitan Washington Regional Affordable Housing Policy, which calls for the creation of new affordable housing, the preservation of existing affordable housing and the distribution of affordable housing opportunities around the metropolitan area.

COG is also home to the Washington Area Housing Partnership (visit their website at: www.wahpdc.org), a public-private partnership established in 1990. The Partnership's mission is to promote and preserve affordable housing throughout the region. The Partnership has its own board of directors that includes lenders, foundation representatives, local elected officials, lawyers, and non-profit and for-profit housing developers. Current WAHP efforts include the investigation into the feasibility of the development of a region-wide Affordable Housing Trust Fund to bring gap financing to affordable housing development efforts in the region.

Additionally, COG served as the lead non-profit in administering a five-year $4 million grant to provide mobility counseling to Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and certificate holders throughout the region. Established in 1997, the Regional Opportunity Counseling Program improved interaction among Section 8 programs, provided in-depth counseling to a targeted Section 8 population, and encouraged additional landlord participation in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Currently, COG is designing and implementing follow-on to the ROC program that encompasses some of the program's best practices into a long-term effort to help decentralize pockets of poverty in the region through program coordination, landlord outreach, and public education.

Program Contacts

Ayan Addou - Housing Planner (202) 962-3753