What’s happening:
The Minneapolis City Council passed the Affordable Housing Preservation Ordinance on Oct. 31 with a 9-4 vote.
According to the authors, the Affordable Housing Preservation (AHP) Ordinance aims to preserve and grow the city’s affordable housing stock by providing opportunities for local community ownership, and to prevent displacement of renters, especially renters of color, due to conversion of rental properties.
The ordinance gives qualified organizations (QOs) the rights of first offer and first refusal when certain rental housing buildings are made available for sale.
Why does this matter for you?
Realtors® do favor the creation of homeownership opportunities and support a wide variety of housing options. However, this ordinance creates burden for both potential buyers and sellers, substantially alters private property rights and ownership, and stifles competition in the marketplace.
What MAR Advocated For
MAR has been working on amending this ordinance since this summer to help advise city council members on how to better approach this issue. We met with 11 of 13 council members on multiple occasions to negotiate reasonable solutions to advocate for first-time and first-generation homebuyers, buyers, sellers, and small/local investors.
We advocated for property rights which are an essential component of freedom and choice. We advocated for homeownership, which is the most effective way to lock in long term affordability and housing security. And we pushed for the city to use resources, like the Down Payment Assistance Program, to promote homeownership options
Ultimately, while the Council took Realtor® recommendations under consideration, the ordinance did pass.
Council members who voted in favor of AHP: Payne, Koski, Palmisano, Ellison, Chughtai, Chowdhury, Cashman, Chavez, and Wonsley.
Council members who voted against of AHP: Jenkins, Rainville, Vetaw, and Osman.
What Now?
We’ll monitor the specifics of the ordinance once it reaches the programmatic planning stage; and in the meantime, we’re advocating with the mayors office to veto the ordinance. We will continue to propose solutions and outcomes that support affordability and choice, and keep the interests of your business and your clients in mind. I want to thank MAR members for being involved and advocating for property rights and promoting homeownership these past 4 months.
I’ll keep you posted when more info becomes available. If you have any questions, please email me: my****@*********or.com
Myles Artis
Government Affairs Director, Minneapolis Area Realtors®