By Frank Mustac, Contributor
Committee members recently got an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of applying to buy or rent an affordable housing unit in town., The issue is apt, especially now that a court in Trenton within a few months will determine the number of housing units for low- and moderate-income buyers each town in Mercer County must make available to meet its obligation., Edward Truscelli, executive director of non-profit Princeton Community Housing, spoke to Hopewell Township Committee members earlier this month, describing some of the challenges faced by people seeking affordable housing in the municipality., “Even though the Council on Affordable Housing is essentially defunct, the rules that govern COAH still come into play. Those are the uniform housing affordability controls. Those are state statutes,” Truscelli said., Hopewell Township hired the organization to act in the roll of “administrative agent” – a term that comes from the Council on Affordable Housing, a state agency., “Our role as administrative agent is to enforce the COAH rules – the statutes – and facilitate the application process,” Truscelli said. “In our case, we are the administrative agent for the sales units in Hopewell Township, and the rentals.”, Whenever there is a sale on an affordable housing unit, Princeton Community Housing helps facilitate that transaction, Truscelli told officials., Currently, there are 146 affordable housing “sales units” in the township that can be owned by individuals living in the units. Most of those units, according to Truscelli, are located in Brandon Farms, though some are also located in Pennington Point., There are a total of 187 affordable rental units in the township, of which 72 are in Project Freedom and 115 in Hopewell Gardens, according to Paul Pogorzelski, the administrator for Hopewell Township., According to Truscelli, the vacancy rate of the affordable rental units is approximately four percent. The vacancy rate is less for the sales units, with six sales units on the currently on the market out the 146., “Of those six, one is under contract, so hopefully it should be closing soon,” he said. “So about three percent of the sales units in the township are currently on the market. So that’s a pretty low percentage, I would say.”, In addition, Truscelli said there are 29 households on a waiting list, of which 26 are certified, meaning they qualify to purchase “either a low-income or moderate-income or a middle-income unit of a particular bedroom size.”, “Most of the people on the waiting list are for two-bedroom moderate-income units,” he said., Arnaz Yousafzai, also with the Princeton Community Housing organization, talked about the income ranges of people who would be eligible to apply for affordable housing., “A household of four persons with an income in the low category of below $43,307 can apply for a two-bedroom low-income category unit,” Yousafzai said “For the moderate level, the maximum income allowable is $74,091. And for middle-income, it goes up to $185,220. That’s an example for a four-person household applying for a two-bedroom moderate-income unit.”, Mayor Kevin Kuchinski seemed surprised by the income level numbers., “Let’s go even with the moderate category of $74,091 – that’s more than a number of our teachers and other hard working professionals in the community make,” the mayor said. “There are a lot of people who aspire to live in this community who are helping to support our community – teachers, police and even our firefighters – who could very easily fit into one of these categories.”, Yousafzai responded by saying that the numbers are published by COAH and the state and have not been updated since 2014., “One of the toughest things is when people come in and say ‘I only make this much and I can’t afford anything you’re offering,’” she said. “It’s sad. There really isn’t a good answer.”, Committeeman John Hart asked if applicants intending to purchase affordable units “have a hard time in Hopewell Township qualifying for one of those homes.”, “I think it’s not necessarily just Hopewell Township,” Truscelli responded. “What happens is, one of the first pieces of information we ask people to provide is a pre-approval from a mortgage lender. There are not many mortgage lenders out there, so it’s a very competitive process. It affects potential affordable housing purchasers in all of Mercer County as far as we understand.”, “Everybody who applies for affordable housing has a challenge finding a mortgage,” Truscelli said.
