Authorizing the Joint Committees on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless and Licenses and Inspections to hold public hearings to examine the conditions of rental housing, rental code enforcement, and the need for rental repairs throughout the City of Philadelphia.

Authorizing the Joint Committees on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless and Licenses and Inspections to hold public hearings to examine the conditions of rental housing, rental code enforcement, and the need for rental repairs throughout the City of Philadelphia. WHEREAS, Approximately fifty-five percent of Philadelphia’s total housing units were built before 1950 and 72 percent were built before 1960; and WHEREAS, Unlike many large cities in the United States, Philadelphia has plenty of houses to support its population. However, an estimated forty-one percent of Philadelphia’s rental housing is still in need of repairs, often dangerously so; and WHEREAS, Half of Philadelphians are renters and thousands of these Philadelphia renters are living in dangerous conditions. Renters are living every day in homes with lead, mold, decay, animal infestations, leaking and caving roofs, doors without secure locks, and other unsafe conditions; and WHEREAS, For homeowners, the City of Philadelphia has taken tremendous strides by investing in loan and subsidy programs for owner-occupied home repairs. These programs, including Basic Systems Repair; Built to Last; Restore, Repair, Renew; and the Adaptive Modifications Program, and are national models; and WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has, similarly, made huge investments in repairing homes statewide with the passage of the 2022 Whole-Home Repair Program, which provides state funding for home repairs in every count…