A roughly $100 million affordable housing bond will be on the ballot this November after the Raleigh City Council approved the measure unanimously last month.
The bond, expected to fund projects over the next four years, follows an $80 million affordable housing bond that voters approved in 2020. That money paid for the construction or preservation of nearly 2,500 affordable housing units over a five-year period, some of which are still being built.
It also helped the Raleigh City Council buy land for future affordable housing near major roads and public transportation, including bus rapid transit (BRT) routes. Finally, a chunk of money went toward programs to help first-time homebuyers make down payments and longtime homeowners repair aging houses.
With a new affordable housing bond referendum headed to voters, we took a look at what the proposed bond would cover if approved, and how money from the 2020 bond was spent.
How Does Raleigh Plan to Spend the 2026 Bond?
If approved, the 2026 bond would continue to fund the construction and preservation of affordable housing, as well as the city’s ongoing homebuyer assistance and home repair programs.
This time, however, a portion of the money would also go toward creating a loan fund to help developers build mixed-income housing—or a blend of income-restricted and market-rate units.
For projects like this, the city expects about one-third of the units would be affordable, Housing and Community Development Director Emila Sutton said during a March workshop. So for a 200-unit complex, 140 apartments would be rented at market rate, and 60 would be rented at income-restricted rates.
This one-time investment from the city would allow the loan fund to keep operating even after the bond expires, Sutton said. So even though each project might result in a relatively small number of affordable units, the city is getting a lot of bang for its buck.
After one housing project is done and the developers pay back the loan, the city can use that money to make another loan and help another project, Sutton said. The fund would ensure construction of mixed-income housing continues steadily into the future.
“You’re creating that forever fund,” Sutton said.
In the previous bond (and in this one), developments that are 100% affordable are subsidized by the city year after year, Sutton added.
The City Council would also reserve a chunk of money to address homelessness, primarily by expanding a pilot program that has proven successful. The program, created in 2024, provided rent money to people for up to two years, with the goal of housing them permanently. It also offered support services and case management to help people find jobs, for example.
“It is a no-questions-asked rental voucher … so folks cannot get discriminated against based on their source of income,” at-large Councilmember Jonathan Lambert-Melton told the INDY. “It’s just the ability to go and find an apartment and pay rent.”
As of July 2025, the city had enrolled 45 households—an entire homeless encampment—in the program. The program was so successful with a relatively small amount of money (about $1 million) that Lambert-Melton says he believes allocating more resources to it will be an ongoing City Council priority.
More Money Needed for Affordable Housing?
The supply of housing is mostly under the control of the private development industry. The bond would give the city more money to subsidize affordable housing projects, as well as help create stability by buying existing affordable properties (in an effort to prevent rent hikes or redevelopment) and funding home repair programs.
While the upcoming bond would still be a significant investment in affordable housing, it’s less than the $200 million some activists were asking for. The City Council ultimately decided to put two bonds on the November ballot—the $101.5 million bond for affordable housing and another $101.5 million bond for transportation projects. (The city also already dedicates a penny from the property tax rate to affordable housing, which brings in about $11 million per year.)
The transportation bond would fund projects including BRT, which has been somewhat controversial in Southeast Raleigh. Some activists have said they believe the BRT line planned for New Bern Avenue will lead to gentrification and an increase in unaffordable housing.
Lambert-Melton told the INDY that initially, he was also in favor of a $200 million affordable housing bond. But after talking with staff and looking at the data, he changed his mind.
“There’s only so many projects [staff] can get ready within the timeframe that the bond money has to be spent,” Lambert-Melton said. “Giving them another $100 million dollars is not going to result in substantially more affordable housing.”
He added that along with housing, transportation is one of the two highest costs residents are facing right now and that “if we don’t focus on transportation, we’re not looking at the problem holistically.”
What Did the 2020 Bond Accomplish?
While the 2020 bond did help boost the supply of affordable housing, Raleigh is still facing a persistent shortage, especially for renters making less than $46,000, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Some critics have said the city should focus less on units affordable to people making as much as 80% of the area median income (AMI) and more on housing that is affordable to people with the lowest incomes. But lower rents require a higher subsidy from the government. (Lambert-Melton notes the new bond would help residents earning very low incomes through money that is dedicated to addressing homelessness.)
As of 2024, there was a deficit of some 70,000 units affordable to renters making 50% AMI or below. Population growth also continues to outpace housing development across the city, according to Raleigh’s 2026–30 Affordable Housing Plan.
About one-quarter of units created or preserved by Raleigh’s 2020 bond—mostly apartments, but also some single-family homes—are reserved for people making 60% AMI or less. In Raleigh, that’s currently around $55,000 for a single person and $63,000 for two people.
Another quarter of those units are reserved for specific populations, including seniors, people experiencing or recovering from addiction, people exiting homelessness, and young adults aging out of foster care.
One of the projects the city spent the most bond money on—$7 million—was King’s Ridge, a 100-unit apartment complex that offers housing and supportive services to people who have experienced homelessness. It opened in January 2025.
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