Struggling to afford a home? How Fort Worth may make buying one easier
If you’ve dreamed of owning a home in Fort Worth but didn’t think you could swing it on your salary, the city may soon be able to help you get a place of your own.
At its Dec. 2 work session, the City Council discussed a proposed $5 million bond to help build affordable single-family homes for mid-level earners.
Under the bond, $1 million would be allocated for the city to purchase vacant lots and derelict properties which would be sold to affordable housing developers. The other $4 million would go toward helping developers pay for infrastructure improvements to make the lots ready for construction.
Any lot that would be considered for purchase would have to already be zoned for single-family residential use.
If the city council moves forward with the bond proposal, it will be put to a public vote in 2026.
Should the bond pass, the homes could be sold to buyers whose annual incomes fall between 80% and 120% of the Area Median Income. Currently, the AMI for a single-person household in Tarrant County is approximately $74,687. It is $106,700 for a household of four.
That means a single person making between $59,750 and nearly $90,000 a year would qualify.
A 2023 report found that a family earning the city’s median income of $65,000 could not afford the median-priced home of $296,000.
Council members Elizabeth Beck and Chris Nettles questioned why the funds should be limited to for-purchase affordable housing, and they wondered why the city couldn’t put forth a more robust bond package worth far more than $5 million. Nettles said it might take as much as $40 million to meet Fort Worth’s affordable housing needs.
The council will reconvene in January to hash out the particulars related to the proposed bond.
Changes to incentives for affordable multifamily housing in Fort Worth
Also at the work session, the council saw a recommendation to amend the city’s economic development incentive policy for multifamily affordable housing.
As the policy stands, multifamily developers qualify for financial incentives if at least 20% of the units are designated as affordable housing. Under the policy, at least 10% of the units must be offered for lease to individuals and households with an annual income not exceeding 80% of the AMI. The other 10% must be offered for lease to those whose income doesn’t exceed 60% of the AMI.
However, Fort Worth’s Economic Development Department has recommended removing those minimums and instead negotiating incentives for multifamily development projects on a case-by-case basis. One reason is that affordable housing incentives don’t go as far as they once did in helping offset construction costs. Another reason is that rising rents have made it more attractive for developers to simply forego the incentives altogether and offer all rental units at full market rate.
The Economic Development Department also recommended dedicating a portion of new tax revenue generated by Economic Development projects to go toward helping developers build more affordable housing in the coming years. Instead of that money being paid directly to the developers, it will go to the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation, which in turn would work with developers to solidify incentive agreements to get projects off the ground.