State Sen. Sean M. Ryan is pushing a five-year plan that calls for housing reform in Buffalo and other upstate cities that would create hundreds of starter homes, provide incentives for landlords to fix substandard rental properties, help homeowners save on energy costs and ease homelessness.
Ryan believes his “holistic” four-part plan will help address Buffalo’s generational shortage of high-quality, affordable homes and rental units in Buffalo, bolstering the city’s economy and growing its population.
“Building more housing that’s on the tax base is good for the local community,” Ryan told The Buffalo News in advance of a related presentation Thursday afternoon at the Crane Branch Library on Elmwood Avenue.
“Each of these programs do more than help the individual,” he said. “They help the community.”
Buffalo’s housing challenges are different from New York City, so the approaches upstate should be different, said Ryan, D-Buffalo.
Regardless, he said, challenges addressing access to quality, affordable housing across cities statewide have been magnified by “decades of disinvestment.”
He proposes a multifaceted approach to address them.
New homes
The first proposal includes construction of 2,000 starter homes in Buffalo over five years, at an estimated cost of $800 million. The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal would provide subsidies to incentivize the construction of one- and two-family houses that can be sold to buyers with low to moderate incomes.
That includes those who can afford monthly mortgage payments but have been pushed out of the market due to high interest rates and expensive home prices. Ryan said this plan will also add to the city’s tax base.
Rental property repairs
A significant number of Buffalo rental properties are in various states of disrepair. Ryan proposes a grant program to improve 4,000 affordable rental units every year across four upstate cities, including 1,500…
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