Charleston County hiring new roles to address affordable housing

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - In areas where home prices are skyrocketing and supply is low, leaders are working to address affordable housing in any way they can.

In Charleston County, officials are working on two efforts to get the conversation started around affordable housing.

Currently, the county is in the process of interviewing for the Director of Community Revitalization and Housing Affordability. This will be a brand new role, and the individual will be in charge of managing federal funds and any money associated with affordable housing initiatives.

County leaders are also looking to hire a consultant that will come up with a comprehensive affordable housing plan.

“We have a number of consultants that have submitted applications, and we are in the process of reviewing those applications. By the end of August, our team should be presenting those to [county council],” Charleston county councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt said. “Once we develop a strategy, we should have a much better picture of all the tools in our toolbox to address affordable housing needs.”

Council members and county officials have also started engaging with the Riley Center for Livable Communities to help facilitate the county’s plan on how to use American Rescue Plan Act funds. The county will receive $80 million.

During recent county council meetings, some council members expressed interest in using some of those funds towards affordable housing, but it will be up to the full council to come up with a list of priorities to invest in.

“We do have to have a list of things to fund that we want to spend our money on in the next couple of years, so creating a trust fund of that money is not really on the table at this time. However if there are shovel-ready projects that we can invest in that can happen and it filters up as a priority in this list, we’ll definitely be looking at that,” Honeycutt said.

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