“Affordable Housing” means housing that is attainable at less than 30% of a household’s income. For Philadelphia County (including suburbs), the Area Median Income (AMI) is $96,600. More specifically, for a family of two, AMI is $61,850; family of four, AMI is $77,300; and family of six, AMI is $80,700 (more stats here). The city determines what is affordable housing as a percentage of AMI:  eg, 30% of AMI means household income of $29,000, 50% of AMI means household income of $48,300, up to 120% of AMI for household income of $116,000.

Most examples of cohousing developed around the country are not affordable and are usually initiated by older and wealthier white individuals for housing that is market rate or a little below market. Some paths to explore in Philadelphia: 

• vacant city-owned property where land may be available at minimal cost, with the stipulation that the development must have 51% of units (homeownership or rental) affordable (between 30% to 80% of AMI per PHDC – Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation) — explore potential to access low-income tax credits and federal home loan bank. Interview with Angel Rodriguez – ED of Philadelphia Land Bank/Senior VP of Land Services at PHDC (note, in 2013 the city created the Philadelphia Land Bank to facilitate the transfer of vacant publicly owned properties to individuals or organizations that would put them to use — since then the Land Bank became part of PHDC)
• developing the project as a limited equity cooperative where residents govern/manage the non-profit cooperative and purchase a share in the development (rather than an individual unit), while committing to resell their share at a price determined in a way that maintains affordability at purchase and over the long term.
• potential to repurpose and renovate an existing building (church, school, warehouse, or office) – affordability dependent on condition of existing structure, potential for tax credits and benefits regarding zoning variance for use and parking if historic designation
• creating a non-profit entity, in addition to LLC, which can apply for grants to support a portion of the development that will provide affordable units (an example in progress is Our Home-Cathedral Park Cohousing in Portland, OR); or partnering with an existing non-profit CDC, or creating a Community Land Trust to maintain some units as affordable in perpetuity

Pew Charitable Trust 2020 report on housing affordability in Philadelphia — link to key takeaways from report:

• Even though the cost of owning a home in Philadelphia is the lowest among the nation’s 10 largest cities and rental costs are among the lowest, many Philadelphians struggle to afford housing
• 40% of Philadelphia households were cost-burdened and more than half of them were severely cost-burdened, spending at least half of their incomes on housing. More renters than homeowners were affected:
  • 54% of rental households were cost-burdened
  • 32% of homeowners with mortgages were cost-burdened
  • 22% of those who owned their homes and had no mortgage were cost-burdened

​Partnership for Affordable Cohousing is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and establishing affordable cohousing.

The Village Model provides a collaborative, community-based approach to building and sustaining permanently affordable places to call home. 

Affordable Cohousing Toolkit was created by the Affordable Cohousing Task Group of The Cohousing Association of the US (CohoUS). It is intended to be a resource for existing and forming cohousing communities for researching affordable housing subsidies. The summary describes a variety of public and private subsidies which may enable cohousing groups to financially integrate affordable housing units in rental and homeownership cohousing structures. Each summary provides a basic description of the subsidy, the types of projects the subsidy may apply to, the required level of affordability, and the application process. As each financial subsidy is introduced units are able to be designated as affordable units at a certain level of the area median income.