Questioning Rent as Routine

90 mins

For many folks, paying rent is a stressful monthly routine task. Affordable housing was designed as an alternative that would relieve this stress by pegging the rent owed to a reasonable 30% percentage of household income. But many residents of affordable housing still experience rent stress. If affordable housing was designed to keep people from feeling this stress, why is it still happening? What is it about the structure of affordable housing finance that may contribute to this on-going rent stress? Why charge rent at all?

This workshop will help demystify the financing that drives the creation of affordable housing. It will cover the basics of the medley of public sector financing sources and the surprisingly huge role the impenetrable tax code plays in incentivizing the private sector. You will learn why it’s so hard to create affordable housing and have the opportunity to generate alternative rent and non-rent based housing models.

Join us at CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust) for a short film screening and the workshop. Masks are not required, but are recommended and appreciated.

Curated by Fay Darmawi and Reetu Mody