Housing Programs

COG's Housing Program covers a broad array of issues important to area local governments and their housing partners. These include the region's housing stock, homelessness, housing affordability, concentration of affordable housing, fair housing, neighborhood redevelopment, and transit-oriented development. COG provides current, accessible information to inform regional and local policies.

Current COG Housing Program efforts include implementation of Region Forward, the region's first comprehensive vision plan, and the Metropolitan Washington Regional Affordable Housing Policy. Both documents call for the creation of new affordable housing, the preservation of existing affordable housing, and the equitable distribution of affordable housing opportunities around the metropolitan area. COG is presently creating a regional affordable housing database to identify and map the region's subsidized units to better understand the location of these units and the households they serve. This analysis will help identify locational, economic, and other gaps in the region's affordable housing stock, and will inform the development of strategic responses.

To assist with the equitable distribution of the region's affordable housing stock, COG is partnering with Enterprise Community Partners and National Housing Trust (NHT) to create a regional affordable housing preservation fund. The $54 million fund will preserve 1,000 units of affordable housing in transit corridors throughout the region. Information from COG's regional database and Enterprise/NHT's research will identify properties at risk of losing affordability. The fund will be used to acquire, renovate, and preserve these properties to ensure they remain affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

COG's recent housing preservation work builds upon the efforts of its Washington Housing Partnership, a public-private partnership established in 1990. The Partnership's mission is to promote and preserve affordable housing throughout the region.

Another COG program focused on housing preservation is its Capital Area Foreclosure Network (CAFN). CAFN, a partnership between COG and the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, began in April 2010 to stem the impact of the region's foreclosure crisis. CAFN builds and enhances the capacity of regional nonprofit organizations and governments working to assist households at risk of foreclosure through marketing and education campaigns, access to current foreclosure data, and technical assistance funding. Visit CAFN's website to access recent foreclosure monitor reports for the jurisdictions within the metropolitan Washington area.

Through its Homeless Services Planning and Coordinating Committee, COG conducts a regional enumeration of the region's homeless and formerly homeless population every year. The annual Point-In-Time Enumeration occurs each January to provide a one-day snapshot of the lives of the region's homeless population and the services designed to assist them in achieving self-sufficiency. COG's annual homeless enumeration reports may be found here.

Program Contacts

Paul DesJardin, Director Community Planning & Services - (202) 962-3293
Sophie Mintier - Housing Planner - (202) 962-3753