Request for information – April 14, 2025
Housing Affordability Strategy for Harris County and Houston
Introduction
City of Houston and Harris County seek to engage qualified consultants to develop a housing data analysis, housing strategic plan, and a housing dashboard for the City of Houston and Harris County. Together, these three projects will be called “The Housing Affordability Strategy for Harris County and Houston (The Strategy).”
We are inviting interested parties to respond to the Request for Information by 4 p.m. on May 9, 2025.
If you are interested in being considered please indicate your interest in phase 1, phase 2, or both. Phase 3 will be conducted by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Please provide the following information:
- Your team’s qualifications
- a list of clients for which similar scopes have been done
- copies or links of similar reports that your team has completed
- Your thoughts on the adequacy of the approach and scope and if you feel a different approach would be better in reaching our desired outcomes
- An estimate of budget to accomplish the scope
Please submit a pdf to HCHFCrfp@harriscountytx.gov at the Harris County Housing Finance Corporation by 4 p.m. on May 9, 2025.
For the purposes of this Strategy, affordable housing is defined as housing (both ownership and rental) affordable to households earning less than 80% of the area median income (AMI). The Strategy will also look at housing affordability for “workforce” which are households earning between 80% and 120% AMI and market rate housing, which is defined as housing serving households above 120% AMI. Our Strategy will focus on the local, state, and federal incentives needed to ensure that there is affordability at all AMI levels, taking into consideration the larger market context to capture metro area housing supply and demand.
The Strategy will provide a framework for understanding the Houston Metro area housing market, addressing housing affordability challenges and opportunities, identifying necessary public policy changes, addressing systemic issues, and ensure that the City and County create a plan to address current and future housing needs in a sustainable, and actionable manner. This Strategy is expected to be built from the rich data and research on housing affordability previously conducted in Houston & Harris County including:
- My Home is Here Study (MHIH) conducted by Harris County;
- The Kinder Institute for Urban Research’s Center for Housing and Neighborhoods research, including the annual “State of Housing” reports;
- The Harris County Strategic Blueprint; and
- The Way Home – Homelessness Strategy
The Strategy will be completed in THREE phases:
- Data Gathering and Housing Data Analysis
- Development of Housing Strategic Plan and Implementation Strategy
- Dashboard and Tracking Implementation
The three phases will ensure the entire effort is data-focused and that data will drive the outcomes of the Strategy, as well as the tracking of implementation. It will also ensure that we have general consensus on the data and likely future of housing affordability in the Houston Metro area before we proceed to development of a plan and implementation strategy. It is possible that as many as three consultants could contribute to the effort with one consultant handling data and analysis, one consultant developing the strategy and implementation, and one consultant handling the dashboard. However, we are open to any combination of consultants handling one or more of the phases of the plan.
The dashboard is envisioned as a data-driven, interactive map and informational dashboard detailing the supply and demand of affordable housing in Harris County and the city of Houston. The dashboard would contain dynamic and up-to-date analysis, Demand side assessments across the county at various income levels, supply side assessments of subsidized projects and Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH). Additionally, the dashboard will track and hold our community accountable for affordable housing production and preservation as specified in the strategy.
We envision the Strategy’s audience will include Houston Metro’s many housing partners, such as housing developers, philanthropic community, community development corporations, non-profit organizations, and the business community. The dashboard has the same audience and would also be designed to support elected officials and metro-wide decision-makers in understanding the housing market for both market rate and affordable housing.
Outcomes
The objective of the housing affordability strategy is to deliver a realistic, data-driven, stakeholder-informed housing plan to guide decision-making for the next 10 years.
Phase I – Data Collection and Analysis
- Assesses current and projected housing needs, by the following AMI levels (0-30%, 30-60%, 60-80%, 80-120%, and market rate)
- Analyzes housing trends, suitability of current housing stock, spatial mismatches between supply and current/future demand, jobs, and transportation and resulting policy impacts. The consultant will work with other city and county departments and agencies, including planning, transportation, and public works, to conduct these analyses.
Phase II – Housing Affordability Strategy and Implementation Plan
- Analyzes future growth and development patterns and recommendations for addressing long term housing / housing affordability needs.
- Identifies the key challenges and opportunities in the subject area housing sector, and
- Identifies wins that the City and County can pursue using current funding opportunities, and
- Identifies the role that non-profits and foundations can play based on best practices, and,
- Recommends actionable strategies and policies, differentiated by neighborhoods, geographic areas, City or County, AMI levels, funding streams, and “swim lanes” of responsibilities, and
- Aligns with the City and County’s vision and goals for affordability, accessibility, and sustainable growth; and
- Provides an overview of policy recommendations and best practices that are tailored to the Houston region, and,
- Concludes with a strategy document and collateral materials that are succinct and graphically memorable that drive the City, County, and housing partners to action over the next ten years.
Phase III – Dashboard
The objective of this project is to deliver an interactive spatial map and information dashboard, with quarterly updates, that provides data for improved decision-making for housing policy for the next 10 years. The dashboard would include:
- CTA-level analysis as well as city council and county precinct-level analysis providing spatial granularity
- Demand side assessments across the county at all AMI levels.
- Supply side assessments of both market rate and subsidized projects, including LIHTC, PFC and Sec 392/394 tax deals
- Calculation and presentation of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing data
- Data position for improved decision-making: guiding developers and public sector staff to determine what kind of housing to build where
- Enhanced access to up-to-date data for developers and public officials, particularly the tracking of goal identified in the housing affordability strategy
Scope of Services
Phase I – Data Collection & Analysis
- Conduct a review of existing plans, policies and programs related to housing in Houston metro area
- Data collection of housing data for the Houston metro area as listed above (see Outcomes)
- Ensure that the data can be displayed in a highly engaging and understandable manner to both elected officials and the general public
- Analyze the data to develop a succinct set of facts about existing conditions and trends, explain the state of affairs related to the housing affordability crisis in Houston metro area
- Develop compelling narratives to explain the data to decision-makers and stakeholders the scope and extent of housing issues
Phase I Deliverables:
-
- Data findings summary in the form of a memorandum
- Data “dump”: digital data (GIS files, excel spreadsheets, etc.) that can be used by the Phase II consultant for the strategy and plan document
- Presentations: Provide technical and public presentations to build informed consent and support to the City and County elected officials
Phase II – Housing Affordability Strategy & Implementation Plan
Community and Stakeholder Engagement
-
- Co-create a process for community engagement in coordination with the City of Houston and Harris County staff that engages both a small group of stakeholders/advisory committee and a larger engagement process with the broader community
- Facilitate highly engaging on-site workshops, such as focus groups, charrettes, and and/or data briefings
- Develop a website and materials in coordination with City of Houston and Harris County staff to gain interest and promote the strategic plan process and public meetings.
- Develop and facilitate a process to encourage plan implementation and adoption by elected officials and their constituents
Policy and Strategy Development
-
- Identify best practices for increasing the supply of affordable housing
- Identify barriers or opportunities for implementation in City of Houston or Harris County.
- Co-develop a recommendation for housing unit goals for the City and County, perhaps even to the Council District and County Precinct level
- Develop strategies to increase affordable housing supply and preserve existing affordable units.
- Propose policies to address financing, land use and any other regulatory barriers.
- Address special housing needs, including homelessness prevention and disaster resilience.
- Co-develop strategies for weaving funding from various sources (federal, state, philanthropic, local, TIRZ, HFCs, Housing Authority) to create the best outcomes
Implementation Framework
-
- Identify best practices for increasing the supply of affordable housing
- Identify barriers or opportunities for implementation in City of Houston or Harris County.
Phase II Deliverables:
-
- Executive Summary: Illustrative summary of the Housing affordability strategy suitable for wide distribution/printing
- Draft Housing Affordability Strategy: Comprehensive document with initial recommendations, using high quality maps and charts and infographics
- Affordable Housing Best Practices Appendix: An Appendix outlining best practices for closing the gap between supply and demand for affordable housing where the strategy finds gaps. If the analysis finds wide gaps between demand and supply of housing that is affordable to households with incomes less than 80% AMI, we will want to see best practices for creating more subsidized or income-restricted housing. If the analysis finds gaps in workforce housing or market rate housing, then we would want to see best practices to reduce the price and rents of housing overall
- Final Housing Affordability Strategy: Revised plan incorporating feedback from stakeholders
- Presentations: Provide technical and public presentations to build informed consent and support to the City and County elected officials that would adopt the strategy
- Website: A website that keeps plan participants informed and posts copies of the plan, as appropriate
Phase III – Dashboard
Project Planning & Management
-
- Leads dashboard coordination
- Incorporates housing data collected in the Data Collection and Analysis phase
- Establishes project calendar and ensures deadlines are met
Community Engagement
-
- Meet with stakeholders through the strategy plan process to determine the best way to position the data on the dashboard and inform the design and data presented
- Dashboard should feel connected graphically to the final report created by the plan consultant and the tracking topics/themes should also connect into the final report
Phase III Deliverables:
-
- Delivery of a highly interactive dashboard with both mapping and infographics that track metro, city, and county progress toward affordable housing plan implementation
- Updates to this dashboard every 3 months (quarterly) over the five-year period
Timeline
The consultant will propose a detailed project timeline, with the final plan and dashboard delivered within 12 months from the project start date.
Benchmark Activities
Month 1
- Commence Phase I: Data Collection & Analysis
- Kickoff Meeting with stakeholder groups
Month 2
- Data Collection & Analyses
Month 3
- Data Collection & Analyses
- Check in meeting with stakeholder group on initial findings
Month 4
- Community Engagements #1 on data findings
- Commence Policy and Strategy Development
Month 5
- Commence Phase II: Policy and Strategy Development
- Check in meeting with stakeholder group on policy and strategy
Month 6
- Community Engagements #2 on draft Policy and Strategy Recommendations
Month 7
- Refine Policy and Strategy Developments
- Commence Implementation Framework
Month 8
- Deliver Phase II Draft Strategy document
Month 9
- Check in with stakeholder group on policy and strategy
- Refine Strategy documents, Implementation Framework, and create final drafts of Plan and Dashboard
Month 10
- Community Engagements #3 on Final Strategy document, Implementation Framework
- Commence Phase III: Dashboard
Month 11
- Implementation Framework locked down with partners
- Stakeholder check in on Implementation Framework
- Plan published & Dashboard launched
Month 12
- Plans adopted by City Council and County Board
Estimated Budget
Please provide an estimated detailed budget for each phase that you are responding to.