紐時賞析／紐約陷住房危機...計畫在富人區建混合收入住宅

紐約街景示意圖，圖片來源／Ingimage。

New York City Aims to Build Low-Rent Units In Rich Areas

應對住房危機 紐約市計劃在富人區建合宜住宅

New York City officials put forward a plan to direct public money toward mixed-income housing projects in wealthier neighborhoods — a proposal aimed at addressing the affordable housing shortage and spurring development after a lucrative property tax exemption lapsed last year.

紐約市官員提出一項計劃，將公共資金用在較富裕的區域興建混合收入住宅，這個提議旨在處理合宜住宅短缺問題，並在一項有利可圖的財產稅豁免於去年失效後促進發展。

Currently, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development uses city money to subsidize developments containing only affordable homes. But under the new plan, officials would make money available to projects that have a combination of affordable and market-rate homes.

目前住房保護和開發局使用紐約市補貼的房屋開發只限合宜住宅。但新計劃下官員將提供資金給合宜住宅和市價住房結合開發項目。

The hope is that developers, who can no longer benefit from the property tax break, will produce more affordable units using the income from high-rent, market-rate apartments to supplement the city financing. Those units would also be in neighborhoods where affordable homes have traditionally not been built.

他們希望無法再因財產稅豁免而獲益的開發商，能利用從高租金、市價公寓賺來的收入，建造更多合宜住宅，補充紐約市資金。這些住房也會位於傳統上沒有興建合宜住宅的地區。

The proposal is an acknowledgment from the city that its traditional affordable housing tools have hit a wall.

這項提議等同紐約市承認其傳統合宜住宅工具碰壁。

A contentious New York state tax exemption known as 421a, introduced in 1971 but relied on by developers in nearly every big residential project in recent decades, expired last spring amid pushback from progressive lawmakers, who criticized it as a giveaway to the real estate industry. Even the industry’s lobbying group, the Real Estate Board of New York, conceded that the program no longer matched the city’s housing needs, but it is uncertain if or when a replacement program will be passed. And a separate federal program driven by tax-exempt bonds has been stretched to its limit, city officials said.

有爭議的紐約市稅務豁免又被稱爲421a，在1971年推出，開發商近數十年來幾乎所有大型住宅專案都仰賴該政策。但在進步派議員反對下，該政策去年春季結束，他們批評這項政策對房地產業而言是個贈品。連該產業遊說團體「紐約房地產董事會」也承認，這項計劃不再符合紐約市住房需求，但尚不確定替代計劃何時會通過。紐約市官員表示，由免稅債券推動的個別聯邦計劃也已達到極限。

The agency, which could implement the proposal without additional legislation, will first seek input from developers through February to see where and how it might be deployed.

住房局無須透過額外立法就能實施這項計劃，他們將在2月先徵求開發商意見，觀察專案可能進行的地點和方式。

Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, said he supported the goals of the scheme , and he believed the Housing Department had a “long history” of calculating the level of subsidies needed to get the right mix of affordability in individual developments.

紐約市主計長蘭德表示，他支持這些計劃的目標，他並認爲住房局「長期以來」都善於計算所需補助水平，讓個別開發案可負擔性獲得正確組合。

“We need more housing at all income levels with a focus on affordability and with a focus on generating affordable units in high-opportunity neighborhoods,” he said. “This sounds like a potentially useful new tool to help make that happen.”

他說：「我們需要更多各類收入水平住房，關注負擔能力，並關注在經濟狀況良好的高機會區域建造合宜住宅。這聽來是個可能有用的新工具，能幫助我們讓這些事成真。」

文／Mihir Zaveri 譯／羅方妤