On Feb. 24, the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) launched its 12-month home share pilot program. The PHB is offering homeowners $1,000 grants to rent out their extra bedrooms through qualified home sharing providers. Any additional rooms rented will give the homeowner a supplemental $500.
“Essentially the city’s pilot program is an incentive,” explains Gabriel Mathews, the public information officer for the PHB. He elaborates that the program was initiated to “activate currently unused housing space,” in an affordable and flexible way. Affordability was a large factor in launching this program — one of the most notable stipulations includes a requirement where weekly rent may not exceed $200, including utilities and any fees.
Requirements for qualification include various aspects such as the homeowner’s relationship to the renter, the number of days the room remains available for rent, habitability standards, and the cost of rent, all outlined on the Portland government website.
The application process for the grant begins with listing the room through qualified providers. After thirty days of successful renting, homeowners submit proof to the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, a community support organization, which will then provide eligible candidates with their compensation.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, in the press release about the program, said, “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.” Mathews affirms this and explains that the incentive is intended to achieve a way for Portland residents to receive an additional income while assisting the city in expanding affordable and accessible housing opportunities.
“It’s important to note that we are not necessarily conditioning this as a situation where the prospective tenants in this arrangement are going to be folks moving off the streets or out of shelters,” asserts Mathews. He continues to explain that the program is designed to be a prevention tactic that keeps individuals housed, rather than a direct housing opportunity for those who are currently experiencing houselessness.
Shelters and street outreach programs are often highly expensive, and while other government entities focus on these tactics, the PHB mainly focuses on prevention. “This program is kind of trying to introduce a new option that is more flexible, … you don’t have to qualify the income to be a tenant. You don’t have to sign a year-long lease. It’s lower commitment, it’s lower barrier,” summarizes Mathews.
Other than providing the incentive and paying the grants that fund the project, the PHB has limited direct involvement with participants. Instead, qualified home share providers work with the city on issues regarding background checks, vetting protocols, liability coverage, and various other aspects. Currently, PadSplit and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon are the organizations collaborating with the program. According to the Portland government website, “PHB is not managing landlord-tenant interactions, facilitating rental agreements, or conducting any screening – these roles belong to the qualified home sharing providers, and may differ depending on the provider.”
Being a pilot program, the initiative is given an allotted amount of funding for the year, which will allow the city to decide if they want to continue investment in the future. The provided grants will expand beyond individual homeowners. The city is offering community organizations the opportunity to apply for capacity-building grants designed to support home sharing. Mathews explains, “There are local nonprofits in the city who serve certain communities who may already be home sharing … and we are trying to use a bit of the funding that was allocated for this program to help those organizations literally build their capacity.”
Home sharing through this program simply incentivizes a system that already exists, Mathews emphasizes. He explains that if homeowners don’t want to meet the city’s qualifications, they may work with any home share providers to rent. “If you’d like that additional $1,000 you can, you know, meet these requirements and receive it. But that isn’t to say that other folks who aren’t interested in meeting the qualifications shouldn’t consider home sharing themselves,” says Mathews.
In a statement from Mayor Wilson, he summarizes, “I believe that Portland’s renters deserve affordable, flexible options that meet their specific housing needs. Home Sharing helps to create those options, while also giving homeowners the opportunity to earn extra income. This arrangement could be a perfect fit for so many in our community – I’m proud that the City is helping to make it possible for many more households.”
