A new 10-year plan for affordable housing could be approved as early as Thursday as Broward County commissioners are scheduled hash out an effort to add scores of needed housing units amid a lack of supply.
County officials say it’s the only way to tackle an estimated shortage of nearly 73,000 affordable houses in Broward, and another 74,000-unit gap of rental apartments.
The county expects to approve its 10-Year Affordable Housing Master Plan, which is supplemented with data showing the housing crunch. The master plan’s report shows about 95% of Broward County residents are unable to afford the current median sale price of a single-family home.
Since 2018, the cost of a single-family house in Broward has gone up by 67%, for a $600,000 median sale price in August, according to county records.
The new plan could include suggestions for all of Broward’s cities to raise money for their residents to get down payment assistance or rental assistance, and create a staff position to “guide and expedite” affordable housing projects.
Commissioners also are expected to discuss affordable housing on commercial corridors near train and bus stops “to encourage increased market rate and affordable housing units in Broward County,” according to records.
The discussion is expected to focus on how to pay for it all. One idea calls for cities that have an expiring Community Redevelopment Agency to use some undesignated and unspent tax-increment financing money to go toward affordable housing projects. The tax-increment financing money, commonly known as “TIF,” is money set aside for improvement projects within a CRA zone as property values in a redevelopment area rise.
The more property values rise, the more money the agency gets.
According to county records, for fiscal year 2026, the projection of the county’s share of expired “TIF” money is estimated to be $25 million, based on fiscal year 2024 values.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash