APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION / NATIONAL MULTIFAMILY HOUSING COUNCIL
Discussing Rental Housing in the Era of COVID
Earlier this month , the National
Apartment Association ( NAA ) led a virtual session on the subject of “ housing in the era of Covid ” before a prominent group of municipal officials from across the country . Housing , of course , is just one of the many concerns that local governments are grappling with in the wake of the pandemic – however – unlike the other concerns , the issue of housing predated it .
This is an important point in that the issue of housing carries with it a lot of baggage that has , and will continue to , influence the government ’ s response to the health crisis . As we have seen it has affected the short-term emergency response , is currently influencing the mid-term recovery , and worse yet , may yet attempt to rewrite long-term housing policy .
None of this is set in stone . If nothing else , the past couple months of listening and presenting to our state and local partners has revealed some consistent themes . While they are in desperate need of solutions , what they are really looking for is guidance and a trusted partner to help craft those solutions .
The most recent presentation hosted by the Community Leaders of America ( CLA ), an organization that prioritizes publicprivate partnerships to address civic issues , netted some interesting discussion points that industry can benefit from .
Reminders
It should be noted that the audience responded well to the work that the industry has done since the start of the pandemic .
Some of these notable highlights include :
• Essential Industry – While many were aware that the industry ’ s designation was necessary to allow us to operate during mandatory lockdowns , many were not . That point served to remind them of the industry ’ s importance to the fabric and function of the community .
• Community Resource – Particularly during the early days of the pandemic , how the industry served as a resource to residents regarding health-related updates from state , local and federal agencies . This helped fill the gap of knowledge between official communications and news reports .
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74 | TRENDS NOV / DEC 2020 www . aamdhq . org