Oregon Pushes New Housing Bill to Help Seniors Stay in Their Communities as Rents Outpace Incomes
Testifying before the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness on Tuesday, Governor Tina Kotek gave her support for House Bill 4082, the Governor’s bill that seeks to make it easier to build housing for older and working-class Oregonians.
Oregon House Bill 4082 Hearing Reaches House Committee
House Bill 4082 aims to produce more affordable housing for Oregonians aged 55 and older and improve access to manufactured home communities. The bill will help cities create affordable homes for seniors while supporting lower-cost manufactured home communities. Kotek supports the bill “so people can age in place with dignity and stability.”
Governor Kotek said, “Too many older Oregonians are one emergency away from losing their housing.”
The bill comes as the state experiences a housing affordability and production crisis, with impacts being felt acutely by older and working-class Oregonians.
Severe rent burden (a household paying more than 50% of their income on housing costs) jumped from 12.8% for the 25-54 age range to 19.7% for the 55 to 64 age range, and escalates after that. It reaches 35.5% for adults 85 and older.
Source: HB 4082 public testimony background citing ACS PUMS 2024 and Lincoln Institute manufactured housing data
Dailytidings.com
Using the established Senate Bill 1537 (2024) tool, House Bill 4082 provides cities with an opportunity to add sites to their urban growth boundaries for housing for 55+ communities or manufactured home communities.
| Item | What HB 4082 does |
|---|---|
| New option | Lets a city or Metro add a site to the UGB specifically for 55 plus housing or manufactured dwelling parks |
| Affordability cap | Requires the housing to be affordable at 120% area median income or below |
| Land size | Uses the existing SB 1537 acreage limits and allows up to 50 or 100 acres depending on city size |
| Manufactured homes output | Depending on city population, the tool could support up to 200 to 400 manufactured homes |
| Sunset and effective date | Sunsets January 2, 2033 and takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die |
Kotek said that cities can bring in up to 50 or 100 acres – depending on city size – of non-resource or exception land to support affordable age-restricted residential communities or manufactured housing developments.
This creates opportunities for developers to acquire land at a price that enables the development of manufactured home parks or affordable older adult housing communities, and, depending on the city’s population, could provide 200 to 400 manufactured homes.
Stephanie J. Hooper, President & CEO of AGE+, confirmed that “There simply isn’t enough affordable, accessible housing for low-income older adults in Oregon.”
Oregon’s Senior Population Is Growing Faster Than Most Other States
Despite already facing a housing crisis, Oregon’s senior population (65+) is growing faster than most states. It is projected to increase by over 50% by 2030, putting intense pressure on existing affordable housing stock and driving up waitlists for subsidized senior apartments to years-long in many areas.
The Cooper Center’s National Population Projections showed that Oregon’s 65+ population was 795,108 in 2020 and is projected to reach 990,310 by 2030 – up about 195,202 people (+24.6%).
However, it’s unclear how these seniors will be housed. Washington County, for example, has waitlists that open approximately every 2 to 7 years, depending on availability. Complicating this, the last window for Housing Choice Vouchers shows as closed since 08/04/2021.