Portland City Council to study social housing amid ‘dire' affordable housing need
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Amid the homelessness and housing affordability crises, Portland City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday which could help bring an additional housing model to the city.
The resolution, introduced by Councilors Mitch Green (District 4) and Candace Avalos (District 1), directs the City Administrator to study social housing and submit a report on the housing model with recommendations to City Council by May 31, 2026.
Social housing is owned and managed by the public or non-profits with a focus on affordability and community benefit — as opposed to traditional public housing in the United States, which is reserved for low-income tenants in spaces managed by federally granted housing agencies.
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'To put it simply, it is housing that is non-market, and is permanently affordable,' Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich previously testified during a Homelessness and Housing Committee hearing in late March — noting the model exists in cities from Seattle, Washington and Montgomery County, Maryland to Vienna, Austria.
'Often, it is described or developed as mixed-income communities, where people of all incomes live together,' Hisserich said.
Under the resolution, Hisserich would lead the study — bringing her near-two-year experience studying Vienna's social housing model.The resolution points to an October 2022 resolution passed by Portland City Council that states the need for more than 20,000 affordable housing units in the city after accounting for the 4,200 units that were planned for the years following the resolution's adoption.
Citing American Community Survey data, the resolution also notes more than 50% of Portland households were cost burdened in 2023, with 25% of Portland households spending 50% or more of their income on rent.
'This resolution finally puts Portland on a path to address the root causes of housing unaffordability and homelessness,' Councilor Green said. 'Portland is in a housing crisis that demands bold solutions and systems change. We have been responding as a reaction to the scarcity of affordable housing in this city for a long time. The intention of this resolution is to empower the Portland Housing Bureau to unlock its expertise and have the explicit direction to go out and study new ways of doing housing production, in particular social housing.'
Councilor Avalos added, 'As the Chair of the Homelessness and Housing Committee I'm more aware than most of the dire situation that our city is in when it comes to providing housing to meet everyone's needs. We have spent the majority of our time since the housing crisis was declared over 10 years ago responding haphazardly without a unified vision for how we solve homelessness. I'm excited to see the results of this study because I believe that social housing can be an important piece of the housing solutions that we are seeking.'
The resolution was co-sponsored by Councilors Sameer Kanal (District 2) and Tiffany Koyama Lane (District 3).
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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