PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Cherelle L. Parker today delivered the following Housing Opportunities Made Easy (H.O.M.E) address to a special session of Philadelphia City Council.
*Remarks as prepared for delivery*
Good morning.
Thank you Council President – Kenyatta Johnson, Majority Leader – Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Majority Whip – Isaiah Thomas, Deputy Majority Whip – Cindy Bass, Minority Leader – Kendra Brooks and Minority Whip – Nicholas O’Rourke.
For the record, Council President Johnson, I want you to know that my team did some homework in preparation for today. With this in mind, I want the record to reflect that under your leadership of this legislative body, it is the 1st time in the history of our city that the City Council and the Executive Branch have come together to produce a Special Session on Housing.
Aside from Public Safety, I truly believe at this time – there is no single more important issue facing our great City of Philadelphia than the issue of Access to Housing.
So, I want to personally thank you for your partnership and for understanding the importance of segregating this issue from our traditional budget process so that it gets the attention that it deserves, Council President Johnson. Thank you!
WHY AM I SO GRATEFUL, MR. PRESIDENT? BECAUSE THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA NEED MORE HOUSING – AND THEY NEED IT NOW!
How do I know? Because for almost two years, before and during my campaign for mayor, I crisscrossed our city, listening to Philadelphians from all neighborhoods and walks of life share their perspectives about the most pressing issues facing our city. And guess what? Housing was always among the top three issues.
So with guidance from the people/our residents and housing experts, coupled with my real life – lived experience, I made a concrete promise to the people of our City that if they gave me an opportunity to lead and become their Mayor, I would work to build, preserve and restore – 30,000 units of housing that we can quantifiably measure.
I took this posture because it was incumbent upon me to give a specific number of housing units that people could hold me accountable for producing and preserving, instead of making hollow promises implying that if elected, I could provide, “Housing for everyone who needs it – right away!”
To me, that sort of political pandering sounds great in a speech and is, albeit, a noble goal; however, it is fiscally irresponsible and disingenuous to promise.
And quite frankly, I think Philadelphians are tired of those kinds of platitudes and want to know how the programs we develop will directly benefit them in their respective individual lives.
So just like it was important for me to specify the amount of housing we would produce, it was also important that I provide a framework for how we would design the criteria for who would be eligible to benefit from the programs that we would continue, expand, or create to make our housing goals a reality.
Mr. President, I’m here to say that the guardrails governing my thinking and public declaration to the people were and are clear. I am committed to working with our legislative body, this City Council, to put people on a path to self- sufficiency and will not engage in policy making that breeds class contempt, by pitting the have-nots against those who have – just a little.
This is not a new space for me, Philadelphia. The issue of access to Housing is both personal and professional to me.
Why is Housing personally and professionally Important to me?
It all started with my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother, a domestic worker and grandfather, a retired Navy Veteran, migrated from the South and met and married in North Philadelphia. They moved into Richard Allen Homes Public Housing. Then, they rented a duplex at 7th and Dauphin.
When my mother, their single teenaged daughter, became pregnant with me, they needed more space and started searching for a house. So it was a super big deal when my grandparents finally became homeowners and moved to a single-family home on a tree-lined block in Northwest Philadelphia where they raised me. That’s how homeownership became ingrained in me.
So you all can imagine how I felt when I proceeded to follow in my grandparents’ footsteps and become a first time homeowner myself. What should have been a joyous occasion became a nightmare.
I, along with almost 100 other people, were victims of Predatory Lending of the worst kind. An unscrupulous Developer named John Berg of New Century Homes, built houses in both the 4th and 9th Council Districts. Journalists Ernie Young and Paul Davies wrote extensively about this Predatory Lending and know this case well.
All of us impacted fought back, and protected our properties – but I saw the issue up-close-and-personal.
I am no Johnny Come Lately when it comes to this issue, Friends!
I have LIVED and FELT IT and I have worked on the issue of Access to Housing as an elected official long before it became popular to do so.
Mortgage Foreclosure protections… the Basic Systems Repair Program — ‘BSRP’ Restore Repair Renew… Appraisal Bias, I have fought for the Basic Right to Housing long before it became fashionable to do so!
So that’s why I’m thrilled to stand here before you and Philadelphia this morning to officially release our Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E. Plan.
This Plan is the roadmap to realize our vision for access to quality housing. It is a values-based, data-driven strategy that is aspirational, rooted in action, and supported by a mandate from your Mayor for the public sector to make housing a priority.
This Plan also calls for and welcomes the partnership of the labor, philanthropic, and private sector community.
THIS IS AN ALL-HANDS-ON-DECK MOMENT FOR PHILADELPHIA AND THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE!
During my budget address on March 13th, I announced that over the course of my Five Year Plan, our administration will issue an historic and unprecedented $800 million in bonds for Housing in Philadelphia.
What I’m sharing with you that is NEW THIS MORNING is that these bonds are intended to be part of a $2 Billion investment in housing. And you did hear me correctly – $2 BILLION dollars.
First, nearly $1 billion in funding will be provided by the public sector, which includes funding from the $800 million in bonds as well as other local funding sources, along with state and federal funds —
PLUS another $1 Billion in the value of the City’s land and assets that will contribute to housing production.
Furthermore, this $2 Billion investment is anticipated to have a significant impact on leveraging the labor, philanthropic and private capital that I previously mentioned.
Special thanks to the building trades and philanthropic community for our ongoing dialogue on this issue. I look forward to our continued partnership.
We will begin by issuing $400 million in bonds in FY26, and we plan on spending that money as quickly as possible.
As I said in my budget address, “I WANT SHOVELS IN THE GROUND! I WANT HOUSES BUILT, PRESERVED AND RESTORED!”
I want to put “the pedal to the metal” on the road to 30,000 new and preserved homes for both renters and homebuyers.
This is the largest single investment in housing in Philadelphia history. You have on your desk a handout that puts this spending into context.
To put this into perspective, the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) was about $300 million at the time, but would be about $540 million in today’s dollars.
The Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI) was $400 million when it was created by then-Council President Clarke and City Council in 2021.
And speaking of NPI, Council President Johnson, as I have said in our meetings, I heard you loud and clear – and I kept true to my word that this $800 million will not only continue the programs we know and love that are funded through NPI; it will even expand some of those programs. NPI is still my baby too!
WE WILL FOCUS ON THE MISSION AND ACCOMPLISH THE GOAL FOR PHILADELPHIANS!
We will move quickly, but at all times responsibly. Your tax dollars will be spent in a way that is effective and efficient, and we will show you the program evaluations and data dashboards so that you can see the impacts of our investment.
Question Everyone is Asking: Why 30,000 Units?
Philadelphia’s housing stock has grown over the last few years – but it has not grown to meet the market needs across all neighborhoods and income levels, both for those who wish to own and those who wish to rent.
In fact, much of the growth has been clustered in a few places, and is only attainable by Philadelphians with higher incomes.
Recent housing data shows that for certain market segments, we actually have more units than we need. But these units are intended for higher-income households that can pay more. Some of these units are even sitting empty because they are too expensive for working class or middle-income residents.
So even though we have some expensive units sitting vacant, the market has not produced enough homes (to own or rent) for people of modest or average means.
At the same time as we’re seeing a need for the production of new homes, specifically for certain types of owners or renters, we’re also seeing a great need for the preservation of existing homes, again both for owners and renters.
My Plan proposes the production of 13,500 new homes and the preservation of 16,500 existing homes.
When non-Philadelphians think of our City, they often think of Center City, with its gleaming skyscrapers; or our gigantic City Hall in the middle of downtown; or tourist attractions like the Liberty Bell.
But, as you all know, the City of Philadelphia is geographically very large, and as we like to say, it’s “a City of neighborhoods.”
And I firmly believe that these neighborhoods are made stronger and more vibrant by their residents.
Like every city around the country, Philadelphia has seen a slow and steady decline in homeownership rates over the past few decades.
We now stand at this point: just over half (about 52 percent) of Philadelphians are homeowners.
And while that percentage is high compared to many cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast and has remained stable for nearly a decade, my hope is that this new Plan can continue to stabilize, or even grow, our homeownership rate.
There are several factors impacting the Philadelphia housing landscape:
An aging housing stock, with many households facing critical repair needs.
40,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia, with approximately three quarters of this inventory privately owned.
Zoning and land use policies that can slow investments in and development of multi-family housing. Community opposition to housing production and preservation.
A declining housing supply in terms of vacant homes that could be bought or rented.
A change in household size, with an increase in smaller-sized households.
Housing affordability issues mostly driven by low incomes, inflation, rising rents, increasing home prices, and a prominence of “cost-burdened” or financially-stressed households.
Other factors impacting our local housing landscape include:
Barriers to homeownership.
Issues with the cost and availability of property insurance.
‘Inequitable’ housing gaps, meaning that housing challenges – such as our aging housing stock – tend to disproportionately occur in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates.
A high reliance on small landlords (small landlords are those who own less than five properties).
An increase in construction costs.
Inequitable access to housing, whether we’re talking about appraisals, mortgages, or obtaining quality units.
And an increase in investor-owned properties, which is often when-out-state investment funds from places like New York start buying up homes.
Now that I’ve described our current housing landscape, imagine with me for a Moment…
Imagine if our City’s population of just over 1.5 million people begins to grow again, based on our policies of creating a Safer, Cleaner and Greener City, with Economic Opportunity for All…
Imagine if by working together, we create a Housing supply that meets the demand for housing — at ALL income levels…
Imagine if the housing programs we know and love have been continued and EXPANDED, and, we have successfully launched pilot programs and NEW programs to reach and serve more Philadelphians…
Imagine if we successfully create workforce housing that attracts the next generation of teachers, police officers, firefighters, correctional officers, sanitation workers, social workers, and members of the building trades, who want to live here and work for and in the City of Philadelphia…
Imagine if these workers could live where the Police Roundhouse currently stands, and a new development of mixed-use homes rises – with affordable housing mixed in with market-rate development…
Imagine if the same kinds of innovations and new construction happens where the old Holmesburg Prison sits today…
Folks, colleagues, friends, ALL OF THIS IS POSSIBLE IF WE WORK TOGETHER ON AN ISSUE THAT TOUCHES MOST EVERYDAY PHILADELPHIANS – ACCESS TO HOUSING!
Folks, our Administration has been hard at work on this critical issue since Day One, and can never be accused of not being inclusive along this journey.
Starting in 2023, the Parker Mayoral Transition collaborated with over 550 stakeholders across 13 sub-committees. Our Housing, Planning, and Development Transition Team alone included more than 60 housing experts.
Over the past year, we mobilized experts, analyzed data, and researched best practices in housing nationwide.
Just a few weeks ago, I formally launched our housing initiative.
On February 19th, I signed an Executive Order creating the HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES MADE EASY Initiative, or H.O.M.E. Initiative for short.
The Executive Order set several important steps into motion, notably:
About 25 City Departments and Offices were given an explicit charge to make housing one of their top priorities.
They had 30 days to come up with recommendations and produce a report on how they can streamline processes, cut red tape, and make regulatory and legislative changes that will facilitate the faster production and restoration of housing – without sacrificing health and safety.
I am happy to announce this report has been in my hands as of last week – thank you Jessie Lawrence for getting this done in 30 days! – and our Departments have provided me with over 100 recommendations.
At the same time, we have had an ongoing engagement process with both an Advisory Group as well as dozens of External Stakeholders.
The Advisory Group consists of over 50 organizations, such as:
Private developers, non-profit developers and CDCs, and minority developers.
Partners like PHA, PHFA, Philadelphia Works, and PHDC.
And groups such as BIA, GBCA, and the Building and Construction Trades Council and the Carpenters.
We will continue that engagement as we refine the Plan, map out how we put it into action, and roll out key initiatives. This Proposed Plan is not the end of the process for us – but just an important step along the journey.
And this Housing Plan is just that – a Proposed Housing Plan.
The Housing Plan will need to be vetted and approved by this City Council.
The Proposed Housing Plan will move concurrently with the Proposed FY26 Budget, with both to be adopted at the same time, ensuring there is a funding mechanism to implement this plan.
To develop this Housing Plan, my team was led by my Chief of Staff, Tiffany Thurman, Planning & Development Director, Jessie Lawrence, Chief Housing and Urban Development Officer, Angela Brooks… And John Mondlak, Octavia Howell, Mark Dodds, Dave Thomas, Kathleen Grady, Emily Persico, Paula Brumbelow, Michael Gall, Karen Guss, Jamila Davis, Greg Kingery, Rachel Meadows, Andre DelValle, and others, who have been working furiously around the clock.
We have received significant support from the Reinvestment Fund and Guidehouse, and I want to thank them now for their partnership. Ira Goldstein and Emily Dowdall, thank you! Greg Heller and Ali Mooney, thank you!
We have also received expert guidance from former Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Marsha Fudge, who is here today. I would be remiss if I did not personally call her out and thank her for all she has done!
And as a former U.S. HUD Secretary, Marcia Fudge has the institutional knowledge needed and is exactly the kind of person you want in your corner as you launch a Housing Plan as bold and ambitious as our Plan is!
Secretary Fudge, thank you for your unwavering support for Philadelphia and our Administration!
In addition to all the activities outlined in the Executive Order, this team has done a thorough landscape analysis to identify every housing program we currently have, who is served by that program, and more analysis to understand the effectiveness of each program.
I want to acknowledge that we already have some of the best housing programs in the country.
I am going to highlight some of them in a moment.
As part of their analysis, my team has come up with a list of about 50 programs.
I am proud to say that many of these will be new programs that we will either pilot or recommend to launch in FY26 and beyond.
Before I get into the details of which programs will be continued, invested in and expanded, or introduced, I want to highlight the guiding principles which serve as the Seven North Stars for this Plan. Those principles include:
Preserving our homes.
Making our homes more affordable.
Building more housing.
Making the City work better for the people.
Preventing housing instability and homelessness.
Making our homes and communities resilient, and reducing blight and vacancy and improving our communities.
The recommendations of this Plan will be focused on:
Preservation: tackling critical repairs and maintenance needs for an aging housing stock.
Production: developing a variety of housing types and options across every income band, in every neighborhood.
Stabilization: prioritizing housing stability and homelessness prevention measures, including rental assistance and eviction diversion.
Incentives: promoting homeownership opportunities to foster thriving communities and generational wealth.
I want to emphasize here – we are starting from a position of strength.
This Plan will build on what already works, identify gaps where new programs and approaches are needed, and invest in new programs that we can scale.
It is important to note our successes, while never being satisfied with the outcomes until we have truly achieved our mission of quality, affordable, safe, and healthy housing for all!
Let’s now walk through the programs will be continued, expanded, or introduced using the seven “North Stars” that I just mentioned.
One of the North Star Goals of our Plan is to Preserve Our Homes.
First, I am going to highlight some of our existing housing preservation programs. Preservation is critical in our city, where the majority of our housing was built prior to 1960 and about 85 percent was built before 1980.
It is my belief that the home you are already in is often the most affordable. I also want to remind folks that preservation programs reduce housing instability and homelessness, and keep neighborhoods stable.
One of the preservation programs that we are going to expand, and increase the eligibility guidelines for, is:
Basic Systems Repair Program – Free emergency repairs to fix roofing and major home systems. This decades-old program is one of the most popular and over-subscribed programs.
I want to give you a quick example of how BSRP works for Philadelphians. Say for example, that “Mr. Brown” lives in a stone home he’s owned for decades in East Mount Airy.
Mr. Brown is retired, living on a fixed income, and his wife has passed. He had a good government job, so he has a pension and Social Security. His home may look nice … on the outside. But on the inside, his ceiling is stressed, and his floors are cracking too.
But right now, Mr. Brown makes a nickel over our current income eligibility guidelines. He needs BSRP – and it’s our job to make sure he qualifies for this worthy program! THAT IS OUR CHARGE!
Other preservation programs that we are going to continue:
Adaptive Modification Program – Free adaptations to give people with disabilities easier access to and mobility within the home.
Heater Hotline – Free emergency repairs to heaters.
Restore, Repair, Renew (RRR) – Helps homeowners access low-interest loans to invest in their properties.
This program is one of my babies. I created this program while I was in City Council to support our “Middle Neighborhoods,” where residents make too much for most government-funded home repair programs — but they often can’t get a loan from a bank.
RRR loans can go up to $50,000 and they are eligible for households earning up to 120 percent of AMI. And listen to this – these are 10-year, 3 percent fixed interest rate loans. Additionally, you can have a credit score as low as 580 and still be eligible for this program!
I am also very happy to share that my Administration is working closely with our City’s depositories so that Philadelphians who don’t qualify for private loans can take advantage of this home improvement loan program.
I also want to highlight a new preservation program that we are going to be launching, and that is a Home Service Clearinghouse and Concierge.
This program will help Philadelphians find pre-qualified contractors, whether it’s for plumbing or electrical. This is how we can prevent our seniors from getting scammed. I also want to take this a step further and want to help Philadelphians gain access to essentials for their homes, like furniture and appliances.
The second North Star Goal of our Plan is to make our homes more affordable.
I am going first share some of our existing programs that we are going to either continue or expand.
As everyone knows, we have very successful, established programs when it comes to making, and keeping, our homes affordable. These include:
Housing Counseling – Free counseling to help prepare people to buy a home by, for example, repairing their credit or becoming more financially literate.
Our network of housing counseling agencies – one of the best in the country – have also been invaluable when it comes to implementing our Mortgage and Tax Foreclosure Diversion Programs, which provide free housing counseling and legal aid to help residents facing the loss of their homes due to mortgage or tax foreclosure.
Philly First Home (PFH) – Provides down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers.
Utility Emergency Services Fund (UESF) – Funding that provides assistance to low-income individuals and families who need help paying utility bills.
Shallow Rent Program – Provides rent assistance for tenants living in affordable housing developments who are cost-burdened and who are at risk of being evicted. In other words, this program helps people pay their rent so they can stay where they are!
I am also proud to announce that we are going to be piloting a new version of a shallow rent program that will help middle income families – essential workers, teachers, nurses, etc. – move into already built developments that are currently sitting empty in neighborhoods where rental properties were overbuilt.
Another new program that will help make our homes more affordable that we plan on launching, and that I am absolutely giddy about is the ONE Philly Mortgage.
This an innovative program which will help to reduce the cost of mortgages. It will make mortgages more available and accessible to ensure that more Philadelphians are able to become homeowners.
It will provide 30-year fixed rate loans with a 3 percent down-payment and competitive interest rates and will remove the need for private mortgage insurance (PMI).
The third North Star Goal of this Plan is to build more housing.
One of our most existing successful programs in this area is Turn the Key, which is helping working families become first-time homeowners. Residents are buying brand new homes and creating generational wealth for fewer dollars per month than they were spending on the rental they just left behind!
Here’s how Turn the Key works:
We keep construction costs down by assembling parcels of publicly owned vacant land for the homes to be built on.
We further reduce the cost to the homebuyer with mortgage assistance and down payment assistance that can total $85,000.
We partner with preferred lenders who often provide additional financial assistance.
And we partner with our Turn the Key developers who are agreeing to use high quality fixtures and finishes – what I call “Affordable Luxury.” Turn the Key is demonstrating that affordable can and should be beautiful.
Turn the Key is working. Since its inception in 2021, we’ve already developed and SOLD 195 homes to new homeowners. In addition, another 590 homes are either under agreement to be sold, under construction or approved for development. The program’s goal is 1,000 homes. WE WILL GET THERE COLLEAGUES – AND CITY COUNCIL CREATED THIS PROGRAM!
I also want to remind folks that Turn the Key is for EVERYONE, not just City workers!
Lastly, a moment to shout out our former colleague and good friend, former Council President Darrell Clarke, who created Turn the Key as part of NPI with this City Council.
One more funding item that I want to call special attention to: it’s a long-time coming, and it will help us not only build more housing, but in some cases, preserve treasured community gardens and green spaces. We plan on using some of the bond proceeds to finally purchase the remaining U.S. Bank Liens!
Another new program that we will be launching that will help us build new housing is a contractor training program.
We want to support our local workforce to develop our housing, and this program will provide training for contractors to support development projects in need of additional staffing.
This Plan will allow us to ensure that this production and preservation of housing becomes a vital workforce development tool for the next generation of Philadelphia skilled trades union members.
We’re working closely with the Building Trades/Carpenters and our City College for Municipal Employment to cement this partnership. We will fund the apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship training that the Building Trades instructors will provide while we strengthen our workforce pipeline for the future.
I am also excited to announce that we are creating a new fund that will provide access to bonding for contractors, something I know has been needed for a long time.
As a City, we want to provide exceptional customer service: quick response times, easy- to-locate support options, clear communication about programs and city offerings, and top-quality services.
To that end, the fourth North Star Goal of this Plan is to Make the City Work Better for The People.
This Plan will fund both a Land Bank Operational Assessment and an Operational and Programmatic Efficiency Assessment. What does that mean?
The Land Bank Operational Assessment will evaluate the process to track and manage properties for affordable housing opportunities. Through this assessment, the city can also evaluate the process to claim repossessed property via public auctions for redevelopment priorities that revitalize our communities.
We’re already making headway on this. I’m proud to announce that we’ve finally reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sheriff’s Office that will permit the Land Bank to acquire tax delinquent vacant property at Sheriff Sales in order to transform these properties from vacant lots to new housing. The Land Bank had a Special Board meeting this past Saturday to ratify and sign that agreement.
We’re also going to – VERY SHORTLY — be releasing a website that will simplify the process for acquiring property through the Land Bank. STAY TUNED! Special thanks to Melissa Scott and her team at OIT and Angel Rodriguez and his team at the Land Bank for working overtime to make this possible.
The Operational and Programmatic Efficiency Assessment essentially means that we are going to look wholesale at our structures, processes, and importantly, our technology to ensure that we have the best. This will help us achieve our bold vision to increase the number of lots and properties that can be used for housing. We want to ensure that Kelvin Jeremiah and PHA have as much land and property as they possibly can in order to create more of their high-quality housing!
The 5th North Star Goal of this Housing Plan is to prevent housing instability and homelessness.
Here again, we already have some excellent programs which this Plan continues.
The first one I want to highlight is the City’s Eviction Diversion Program, or EDP, which helps keeps people in their homes.
I also want to highlight the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Program (PEPP) and Right to Counsel, which give tenants free legal representation in court when they are facing with eviction proceedings.
Related, we also have the EDP Targeted Financial Assistance program which provides a one-time payment to the landlord to cover a tenant’s rent arrears if a tenant and landlord are eligible and participate in EDP in good faith.
This program has been recognized repeatedly as a national model and it will only continue under this Housing Plan.
The 6th North Star Goal of this Housing Plan is to make our homes and communities resilient.
In late 2023, HUD approved the City’s plan for $163 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to support long-term recovery efforts following the impacts of Hurricane Ida. Again, thank you to Secretary Fudge for helping make that happen!
These funds are going toward:
A Homeowner Repair program, which helps provide safe and decent housing opportunities for low-to-moderate income and vulnerable households impacted by Hurricane Ida.
A rental repair, rehabilitation, and construction program, and a hazard mitigation program that will strengthen facilities, structures, and communities to make them less vulnerable to future disaster impacts.
In addition to these federal dollars, many of our existing preservation and production programs have environmental resiliency at the forefront. After all, a home with a secure roof and foundation, more water-resistant materials, pointed bricks, and the like are more likely to withstand extreme storms and other weather events.
Additionally, the City will continue to partner with entities like the Energy Coordinating Agency, which administers the Philadelphia Weatherization Assistance Program and the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which has its Built to Last program that helps ensure that resiliency and energy conservation are layered into existing home repair programs.
Investing in our communities has been shown to have a positive effect on all aspects of life, from mental health, to safety, to building neighborhood connections.
With this data in mind, we must focus on beautifying our communities to help strengthen communities’ social fabrics while preserving housing stock and property values.
Today is about the Housing Plan, but I have to mention our Clean and Green Initiative and everything it is doing to clean and beautify our neighborhoods. It’s all related, colleagues!
The last, but not least, North Star Goal of this Housing Plan is Reduce Blight and Vacancy and Improve Our Communities.
I am very excited to announce two new programs:
A Curbside Appeal Program – This is a program I have dreamed about since I was a Councilmember. We can model it off several other cities’ successful programs. The program will provide matching grants for blocks that wish to provide “curbside appeal” improvements to the fronts of houses.
Just over the weekend, I participated in a Philadelphia More Beautiful event with some of the best people our City has to offer – our Block Captains!
The Block Captains doing the best work receive small grants to support them in their vital community work.
Our new Curbside Appeal Program will both supplement and amplify that already amazing work being done by our Block Captains!
A Façade Improvement Program – This is a program that will provide one-time funding for the repair of housing façade work, such as weatherization improvements like brick pointing.
In addition to our seven North Star Stars and the programs that fall under them, some programs are focused on providing financing to developers, landlords, homeowners, and renters.
This Plan proposes investing in several established program funds that will support our housing goals.
Rental Improvement Fund (RIF) – Offers forgivable and no interest loans to small landlords to fix up their rental units; in exchange, these landlords keep the rent affordable.
Tangled Title Fund – Free legal assistance for homeowners to resolve problems proving ownership – a critical issue in many neighborhoods.
Affordable Housing Preservation and Production Funds – Provide gap financing for LIHTC development projects.
This Plan is also proposing the creation of a new fund – the Land Bank Acquisition Fund – which will help the Land Bank acquire repossessed property at public auctions to increase the supply of affordable units.
Some of you may be asking, “How are we going to pay for the $800 million in bonds to fund all this?”
When considering such an ambitious bond amount, I knew that we would need to raise revenue in order to pay down the bonds over time.
That is why I proposed raising the realty transfer tax just a little bit. It’s a small increase, but it will generate $173 million over the Five Year Plan, and even more after that.
I also want to be clear – this small increase in the realty transfer tax will not have a large impact on individuals when they are buying or selling a home.
The cost of the increase in the realty transfer tax will be much larger for commercial and industrial transactions. For the purchase of a commercial property valued at $50 million, the increase would be more $150,000 more at the time of the sale.
I also want to remind folks that in my FY26 Budget, I proposed repealing the Construction Impact Tax that put a 1 percent tax on construction and improvements over a certain threshold in the city. This tax has only generated about $3.5 million a year for the General Fund, and yet it was a large burden on the very industry we are asking to help us build more new homes.
Repealing the Construction Impact Tax is just one example of how a policy measure can have a major impact on reducing cost and increasing opportunities for greater housing supply and construction, which in turn will stimulate job growth and economic opportunity.
I also want to give another example: As we seek more ways to encourage further development of more housing for Philadelphians, we will consider every option at our disposal, including tax abatements targeted to neighborhoods most in need of housing.
My FY26 Proposed Budget also calls for $11 million in operating funds over the Five Year Plan to hire 32 new employees and provide ongoing consultant support for our H.O.M.E. Initiative. I know that we need good staff to execute all these programs, and we intend to hire the best!
My Proposed Budget also calls for increasing the recording fee to raise an additional $300,000 a year for our Tangled Title efforts.
Additionally, we plan to soon launch a residential security camera program through our Philadelphia Police Department, where 1,000 participating households will get a camera. We’ll use data to identify high-crime areas and determine which homes will get a camera. Special thanks to Senator Vincent Hughes and former Senator Jimmy Dillon for making this a priority in last year’s state budget.
I have mostly shared details about the existing and new programs that we are going to continue, expand, or introduce as part of this Plan.
And I have also shared details about how we are going to pay for it.
I now have in hand recommendations from over 25 Departments for how we can streamline processes, cut red tape, and make changes that will facilitate the faster production and restoration of housing – without sacrificing health and safety, of course.
I plan on putting these recommendations into action as soon as possible.
And my team has already begun to work on legislation, some of which I plan on transmitting to City Council in the coming weeks.
Early priorities under this Plan include cleaning up the code, addressing zoning inconsistencies to reduce the need for exemptions, and expanding development opportunities in transit-oriented overlays.
I have said repeatedly that I want the money from these bond proceeds out the door as quickly as possible.
I firmly believe that the City of Philadelphia should be able to do big things and in a short period of time.
If we succeed, it will be seen as a huge win for the City in the eyes of the public, developers, our government funding partners, and philanthropic communities both inside and outside of Philadelphia.
I say all this because I am about to acknowledge the elephant in the room – Councilmanic prerogative.
I said at my press conference when I signed the H.O.M.E. Executive Order that I am not trying in any way, shape or form to take away Councilmanic prerogative.
But, with this H.O.M.E. Initiative, I am proposing a new framework for how the disposition of municipally-owned land could work as it relates to the H.O.M.E. bond proceeds.
I am proposing that the Land Bank work in partnership with City Council to pre-authorize the sale, donation, or transfer of ALL municipally-owned real estate for the purpose of constructing new housing under this new program.
This will only apply to smaller parcels of land, for example, where single-family, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes can be built.
In practice, this will apply to many Turn the Key projects.
For the purposes of these bond dollars, we need to develop an expedited process where it doesn’t take a piece of legislation to move land out of our Land Bank. Keep in mind that land can get held up for months, particularly when Council is out of session during the summer.
But I was a District Councilperson, and I understand how important it is to ensure that you have responsible developers working on projects in your District, and that what is getting built fits into the neighborhood.
That is why I am also proposing that my Administration work with City Council to create a pre-approved list of developers. Furthermore, we can build out this list even more with recommendations from my Advisory Group and all of the Stakeholder Groups that we are engaging.
These developers will tell us what kind of projects they are interested in building, for example affordable housing or Turn the Key.
And let’s not forget that these smaller developers are who we have all said we want to have access to the opportunity to do business in our city.
Well, this is how we can, in fact, de-bundle these development opportunities and make them available to small developers to be able to build Citywide.
This pre-approved list of developers will essentially create a “new pool of developers,” so that when a project is competitively bid out, we will be able to choose a developer directly from that “pool.”
I also want to reassure my former City Council colleagues that we will make sure each parcel of land will be developed in conformity with a design standard created by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to ensure that construction is consistent and complimentary with the block.
Additionally, DPD will sit down with each District Councilmember to discuss the issue-specific needs and wants for their District. This feedback will be taken into account when producing housing in that Council District.
It has taken us time, and work, and much thought, to get to this moment.
We got here by following what I like to call “the Parker Process:”
Study the problem — rigorously. Surround yourself with the ‘best and brightest’ subject matter experts. Bring in external stakeholders – listen to their ideas. Gather the best talent in City government – engage and hear their ideas too. Propose your Plan. And then, ACT with urgency and transparency.
We are ready now. We have an $800 million public financing underneath this Housing Plan.
We will use it to strategically leverage a $2 billion housing plan overall.
Because the People of Philadelphia deserve this plan.
Because our People deserve MORE HOUSING – NOW.
And it is all of our jobs, working together, to deliver it to them.
Thank you, Members of City Council! Thank you, Mr. President! Thank you, Philadelphia!
One Philly!!! A United City!!!