Though 'affordable housing' has become a local buzz phrase, some locals still have misconceptions about how much of a need exists and what affordable housing does for a community.
The Orange Community Housing and Land Trust is working to correct these problems by providing affordable houses for low-income buyers in Orange County.
The group held its annual meeting Thursday night at the Carrboro Century Center to examine the group's progress during the last year and to plan for the future.
Robert Dowling, the group's executive director, said the trust is still evolving, but it has been successful during the last five years.
"This has all been a fairly new process, and we're still in the process of understanding it better," Dowling said. "This past July-to-June fiscal year has been our biggest and most successful year."
The trust, which was created in 1990, focuses on aiding those struggling with the county's rising home prices. According to the trust, the average home price in the county rose 60 percent from 1992 to 2000, reaching $230,695 in 2000. The average yearly salary needed to afford a median-priced house in Orange County was $100,000.
The trust makes homes affordable by selling home buyers leases at a price much lower than the property's full value.
Dowling said, in 1999 an old mill house in Carrboro was the first home the trust leased. In 2001, 14 affordable town homes were built on Legion Road and 32 town homes were built at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill.
Tara Fikes, director of Orange County Housing and Community Development, said the addition of these developments has been essential to the community. "There are a lot of needs not met for lower-income workers," she said.
