Affordable housing solutions bill passed in the first state

DELAWARE – A win for housing advocates looking to tackle the housing crisis in Sussex County.

Senate substitute 1 for Senate Bill 87 was signed into law Tuesday by Governor John Carney to address the issue.

“We have a lack of affordable housing options in our county that leads to healthcare capacity issues, leads to workforce housing issues, and some of our businesses close because they don’t have enough workers,” said Senator Russell Huxtable. “We have folks that work in the hospitality industry that feeds our tourism industry. We have folks that come in here during the summertime to harvest crops on farms so they need places to live,” said Governor John Carney.

Specifically, the bill will provide a tax break for nonprofits looking to make more places to lay their head. “This bill will exempt nonprofit organizations from the transfer tax and will reduce in a small way the cost of land for those affordable housing projects,” the Governor explained.

Bill sponsor, Senator Russell Huxtable says this legislation comes at a time when the local area is expanding. “Sussex County is growing, if home prices are $500,000 plus and rents are $1,600 for a single bedroom, people making minimum wage at $31,000 can’t afford that, so we need a holistic solution to housing,” said Senator Huxtable.

Senator Huxtable says this is just the beginning of solving the housing crisis. “Hopefully this is one step forward and encourages our local jurisdictions to invest in affordable housing and the state saying “you’re doing this investment great, we’re not going to collect the reality transfer taxes” and so any little bit helps,” said Senator Huxtable.

Bill Sponsor Huxtable says even a small percentage of this tax break can be a big help, making or breaking it for some people looking for affordable housing. He also plans to push for more housing solutions in the coming legislative session.