Exploring a new housing tool: Green Social Housing (Agenda Item #52)
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2026 12:45 pm
Dear colleagues,
I’m happy to be joined by CMs Vela, Fuentes, Alter & Velasquez in bringing a resolution to develop a “Green Social Housing” policy. In this effort, Austin would follow municipalities including Atlanta, Chicago, and Chattanooga, as well as Montgomery County, Maryland, in using public resources to build high quality, permanently affordable mixed-income housing.
This effort was inspired by stories we heard from the Austin workers who are building this City but cannot afford to live in the community they serve. Plumbers who are making Austin a semiconductor leader; electricians who are powering the electric vehicle industry; laborers who are building our roads; teachers who are educating our children. People who are glad that Austin protects our workers and want the City to house our working families.
“Social housing” is a strategy that has proven effective in building workforce housing and maintaining public control of the housing our tax dollars build. It uses many strategies that Austin Housing is already a leader in utilizing, while adding goals such as a revolving “housing production fund” that would allow public dollars to be redeployed after each project is completed.
My staff has engaged with representatives of affordable housing builders, labor unions, and community groups for the last several months. We have received both enthusiastic support and important questions about how this program would be created, funded, and delivered. We take these questions very seriously, which is why the resolution anticipates a multi-month stakeholder process to ensure that all parties are represented in the formal policy creation.
Special thanks to Austin Housing Director Dean and Assistant City Manager Johnson for your support in fostering this resolution and for your commitment to ensuring we move forward on this policy together. We welcome additional co-sponsors for this item and look forward to the work ahead. A copy of the proposed resolution is here: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/ ... ?id=465943
Towards housing for all,
Mike
I’m happy to be joined by CMs Vela, Fuentes, Alter & Velasquez in bringing a resolution to develop a “Green Social Housing” policy. In this effort, Austin would follow municipalities including Atlanta, Chicago, and Chattanooga, as well as Montgomery County, Maryland, in using public resources to build high quality, permanently affordable mixed-income housing.
This effort was inspired by stories we heard from the Austin workers who are building this City but cannot afford to live in the community they serve. Plumbers who are making Austin a semiconductor leader; electricians who are powering the electric vehicle industry; laborers who are building our roads; teachers who are educating our children. People who are glad that Austin protects our workers and want the City to house our working families.
“Social housing” is a strategy that has proven effective in building workforce housing and maintaining public control of the housing our tax dollars build. It uses many strategies that Austin Housing is already a leader in utilizing, while adding goals such as a revolving “housing production fund” that would allow public dollars to be redeployed after each project is completed.
My staff has engaged with representatives of affordable housing builders, labor unions, and community groups for the last several months. We have received both enthusiastic support and important questions about how this program would be created, funded, and delivered. We take these questions very seriously, which is why the resolution anticipates a multi-month stakeholder process to ensure that all parties are represented in the formal policy creation.
Special thanks to Austin Housing Director Dean and Assistant City Manager Johnson for your support in fostering this resolution and for your commitment to ensuring we move forward on this policy together. We welcome additional co-sponsors for this item and look forward to the work ahead. A copy of the proposed resolution is here: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/ ... ?id=465943
Towards housing for all,
Mike