In its quest to bolster affordable housing options, Portland, Oregon, is turning to homeowners.
The Portland Housing Bureau’s home-sharing pilot program, launched last week, is offering homeowners a one-time grant of $1,000 for renting out a spare room and another $500 for every additional room rented out.
Qualifying rooms must meet certain criteria and must not exceed rents of $200 per week, including utilities and fees. The room must be occupied by the same tenant for at least 30 days. The homeowner must live in the house, and the tenant cannot be related to the homeowner.
The program is part of an ongoing effort to activate existing housing that “may be underutilized,” Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement.
"For many Portlanders, home sharing is a win-win solution, helping homeowners to supplement their incomes while providing low-income tenants with affordable housing options,” Wilson said. “We've seen similar programs thrive in cities across the nation, and I'm excited to offer incentives and support to boost home sharing in our community."
The city council budgeted $500,000 for the program, which lasts for 12 months.
The city is working with PadSplit, a coliving marketplace, to connect homeowners with prospective tenants. The company operates more than 30,000 rooms across 40 states, according to its website, and has connected more than 70,000 people with housing, with an emphasis on affordability.
PadSplit, founded in 2017, announced earlier this year it was expanding into Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Nashville, Tennessee; and Sacramento, California.
Portland is the first city PadSplit has worked with to offer financial incentives to open shared housing, the company said in an email.
But it is not the only city exploring shared housing as a method to ease the housing affordability crisis. Last November, New York City released a framework to reintroduce shared housing options in the city amid historically low vacancy rates.
