HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	184
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE STATE TO ESTABLISH AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRODUCTION GOALS AND BENCHMARKS TO MEASURE AND EVALUATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS.

     WHEREAS, the State is currently in a housing crisis that will require an additional 64,700 housing units by 2025 to meet projected long-term housing demands and, of this amount, 22,247 households of all income levels will require rental units; and

     WHEREAS, in a report released by the Honolulu Board of Realtors on March 6, 2017, the median price for an existing single-family home reached a near-record high in February 2017, increasing by 7.9 percent over the last year to $755,000; and

     WHEREAS, the supply of available single-family housing in the market is not keeping up with the demand for such homes; and

     WHEREAS, statistics on condominium and townhome sales, which have increased by 11.7 percent over the last year, show that families are opting for affordable alternatives to single-family houses; and

     WHEREAS, addressing Hawaii's housing problem should be the State's number one priority, as it is one of the major reasons why Hawaii residents, especially young families, leave the State; and

     WHEREAS, short-term fixes alone are no longer enough to address the housing crisis and a long-term plan that includes building more homes for low- to moderate-income households must be developed immediately; and

     WHEREAS, having a long-term goal to work toward and to invite other parties to join in developing affordable housing units that the State desperately needs, will be best achieved by setting housing production goals and benchmarks to measure and evaluate progress; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that the State is urged to establish a statewide goal to develop 64,700 housing units for occupancy by December 31, 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that at least 22,500 units should be affordable rental housing units, units that are rentals to low- or moderate-income families, ready for occupancy between January 2, 2017, and December 31, 2026, pursuant to Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the remaining 42,200 affordable units may be rental or for-sale units; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor and the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, along with their respective planning and permitting agencies, are urged to work together to establish production benchmarks and significantly increase the issuance of permits for the development of affordable housing within the urban core to achieve this goal; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and their respective planning and permitting agencies.

Report Title: 

Affordable housing goals