A state affordable-housing program that's existed for 70 years is receiving calls for more responsible utilization, and one advocate is trying to make sure Buffalo has the same options.
The Mitchell-Lama program has worked to keep housing affordable for moderate- and middle-income residents under a limited-profit and cooperative system since 1955 in places like Albany, New York City and Syracuse.
Buffalo needs similar access to affordable housing, said Buffalo Tenant Federation organizer John Washington.
“Every solution in the housing market that does not center on the tenants, the tenants’ health and experience, just creates more costs down the line in other places. And I think it's time that we actually focus on the experience of tenants so that we can come to some of these solutions.”
Whether it’s housing costs, heating or mold abatement, Washington says that everything ties back to property conditions because those repairs and maintenance are major contributors driving up rent prices.
Mitchell-Lama also provides residents the chance to own building equity where they live, depending on the property, but property wait lists can be several years long, and some applicants listed have been waiting since 2020 or before.
And for properties that are rentals, there can be a major difference for residents depending how responsible the owner is, Mitchell-Lama Resident Coalition Co-Chair Jackie Peters said.
"With the co-ops, they run their own buildings. With the rentals, there's someone who owns those buildings," she said. "You might get one landlord that does everything the right way ... The tenants are happy, the landlord is satisfied. And then you get a bad actor in there, and they say, 'I think I can take advantage of this over here and this over there.'"
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has joined with advocacy groups calling for more oversight at the New York City and state levels.
Resident Coalition Co-Chair Pam Lockley blames the issues on a lack of current responsible supervision of the program, where it should be used to enhance affordability, she said.
“If the Mitchell-Lama is set up the way it was originally, as far as the income levels, how the rents are calculated based on expenses, it would be wonderful to fill in the (market-rent) gaps with (Mitchell-Lama),” Lockley said.
Buffalo has plenty of housing for residents if a rental cooperative program were in place to keep prices affordable, but many properties are either too expensive or already vacant and costly to fix, Washington said.
"I think the purpose of this whole process should be using the government's resources to cover some of those costs, to make having a quality home way more reasonable for the average Buffalonian," he said.
Lockley doesn’t see why new Mitchell-Lama properties can’t be built, but that adds to the confusion because there haven’t been any new ones since the late-1970s.
