Low-, Moderate-Cost Housing Exceeds County’s Goal

Construction of low- and moderate-income housing has exceeded targets set by the Orange County Board of Supervisors two years ago, when the county’s affordable housing program became voluntary, according to a report to be considered today by the Planning Commission.

Bryan G. Speegle of the Evironmental Management Agency said in the report that the availability of incentives and revenue bonds to finance multifamily housing has resulted in housing to fit the pocketbook of people at all income levels.

But Speegle cautioned that the picture could change because of “a downward trend in grants (from the federal government) to local governments for such things as subsidized housing construction and rehabilitation.”

The report covered housing construction in the unincorporated areas of the county, which in 1983 contained an estimated 113,600 housing units, compared to 663,500 in cities within the county.

In 1979 the Board of Supervisors adopted a program requiring builders to construct housing that low- and moderate-income families could afford. But two years ago the supervisors changed the program to a voluntary basis.

Speegle said the target for housing for low-income people was 10% of new construction, but the actual figure was 13% from July 18, 1983, through Jan. 31, 1985. For moderate-income residents, the target was 15% and the actual figure was 49%.