Austin Housing Coalition

Founded in 2003, the Austin Housing Coalition (formerly the CHDO Roundtable) represents the community of “housers” across Austin and Central Texas. We are nonprofits, affordable housing developers, housing and policy experts, and other interested organizations, businesses, and residents who support the development of safe, affordable housing for Austin residents. . Our members work to house people experiencing homelessness, repair the houses of low-income homeowners, provide quality affordable rental housing, and empower low-income households to become successful, first-time homebuyers.

As members of the Austin Housing Coalition, we are intimately familiar with the barriers low-income Austinites face in obtaining safe, decent and affordable housing; whether that be a chronically homeless woman living on the streets or a single father struggling to feed and house his children on minimum wage. We serve and advocate on behalf of the housing needs of Austin’s low-income populations, including: seniors, young adults aging out of foster care, families with children, persons with disabilities, chronically and non-chronically homeless, veterans, and low-income students.

Our Guiding Principles

AHC seeks to:

  • Uplift Multiple Perspectives – by engaging a variety of perspectives from across the housing community
  • Be Member-Focused – by seeking and addressing the priorities of our members through transparent communication and multiple feedback loops within the organization
  • Prioritize Peer Learning & Education – by taking a network-based approach that allows for all members to engage and support their organizational interests
  • Identify Partnerships – by building relationships with institutional and advocacy partners to promote a proactive approach to addressing policy
  • Employ Bold Leadership – by leading the narrative on housing and engage with policymakers to make change in our community and funders

Our Core Values

 

Focused goals: Increasing the supply of income-restricted housing available to a variety of income levels and across the community.

Creating, improving and preserving a variety of housing opportunities and management types.

Inclusive engagement: The ability for residents, neighborhoods and communities to be engaged in the housing solutions that they wish to see.

Equitable Development: Increasing the supply of local affordable housing means building the capacity of local organizations to learn to develop affordable housing better.

Coalition-building: Meeting the community’s housing goals equitably will necessitate weighing in on other cross-cutting issues (e.g. criminal justice, education, health, etc) and aligning with other coalitions and community collaborations.

What We Do:


Advocacy

Advocacy:

We advocate for city, state and national policies that create opportunities for more affordable housing


Networking

Networking:

Our monthly meetings provide our members the opportunity to collectively problem solve, discuss critical issues related to affordable housing, and learn from one another


Training

Training:

We promote best practices for developing and providing affordable housing through training opportunities for our members

 

Posts

Code Amendments Timeline Joint Letter to City Council, City Manager, and Staff

July 7, 2023 To: City Council, City Manager, and Staff Re: Timeline for Implementation of Land Development Code Amendments In recent months, the Austin City Council has passed, in many cases unanimously, many progressive and pro-housing code amendments, all of which are greatly needed to combat Austin’s ever-worsening housing crisis. Our organizations commend City Council… Read more Code Amendments Timeline Joint Letter to City Council, City Manager, and Staff

Housing Development Loan Terms Letter to Austin Housing and Planning Department

November 16, 2022 Greetings, This letter comes to you from the Community Advocacy Committee of the Austin Housing Coalition, and is representative of feedback from affordable housing developers, consultants, and lenders. Over the past few years this group has worked with the new HPD team to add more affordable units than at any time in… Read more Housing Development Loan Terms Letter to Austin Housing and Planning Department

Stormwater Code Amendments

September 21, 2022 RE: Stormwater Code Amendments Dear Planning Commission, The Austin Housing Coalition (AHC) encourages Planning Commission to consider the impact to affordable housing of the 2022 Environmental Code Stormwater Amendments associated with Resolution 20220609-061 and asks that the City of Austin pause any proposed code amendments until it is determined that they will… Read more Stormwater Code Amendments