{"id":243,"date":"2024-04-29T15:36:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T15:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metroabundance.org\/?p=243"},"modified":"2025-05-30T15:34:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T22:34:51","slug":"how-inclusionary-are-market-rate-rentals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metroabundance.org\/how-inclusionary-are-market-rate-rentals\/","title":{"rendered":"How “inclusionary” are market-rate rentals?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An ambitious new <\/span>state law<\/span><\/a> championed by Maryland Governor Wes Moore will allow denser multifamily housing within three quarters of a mile of the state\u2019s many rail transit stations. The law also includes an inclusionary zoning (IZ) provision, requiring 15% of new units be set aside as affordable.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, like many local IZ ordinances, it defines \u201caffordable\u201d as <\/span>available to people making up to 60% of the area median income (AMI), adjusted for family size<\/span><\/i>. To occupy such a unit, applicants must document their eligibility, which takes time, and then pay either 30% of their income or the listed rent, whichever is lower. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But does Maryland need mandates to deliver new housing at this price point? In the Baltimore and DC metro areas, where most Marylanders live, over a third of recently built rental housing units are rented at rates that qualify as affordable. To be sure, that third includes some IZ and directly subsidized units. But most new rentals are market rate, and a solid proportion of those turn out to be affordable to low-income households.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incomes and outcomes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But this isn\u2019t really a story about the power of the market. It\u2019s a story about area median income. In metropolitan Baltimore, a family of four making $73,000 in 2024 <\/span>qualifies<\/span><\/a> for 60% AMI affordable housing, where it would pay $1,825 per month for rent, utilities included. A third of new market-rate three-bedroom units in Baltimore are rented at around that level.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baltimore is typical, as it turns out. In most U.S. metro areas, a substantial share of rentals constructed since 2010 were, in 2021 and 2022, affordable at 60% of AMI. The below map shows this share across regions. You can also check out maps showing rentals affordable at <\/span>80%<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>120%<\/span><\/a> of AMI.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n