‘It’s really about who we’re going to be as a city:’ Gainey pushes for affordable housing

By Jamie Kelly, Bulletin editor
Mayor Ed Gainey announced his intention to unveil a plan to help increase the number of affordable homes, in part by working to curb short-term rentals.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey speaks at a news conference about affordable housing while Wayne Younger, executive director at Open Hand Ministries, listens. Gainey announced that the city will consider regulating short-term rentals like AirBnB as part of its efforts to promote affordable housing.

Gainey spoke at a news conference Feb. 21 at a home under construction in the 5300 block Hillcrest Street. The home is one of three that Open Hand Ministries and the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation have partnered to build in that block. In addition to federal and state grant money and donations, the land was given by the Pittsburgh Land Bank.
“We received the land that you’re standing on from the land bank, and that was critical for us to be able to do this project,” Wayne Younger, the executive director of Open Hand Ministries, said.
Gainey highlighted the work of the land bank as one of the steps his administration had taken to address a lack of affordable housing in the city. But, he said, there were still problems to be addressed.
One problem, he said, is predatory investors who buy houses below market value. In 2021, Gainey said, 25% of all housing transactions were by property wholesalers. Those properties are often turned into short-term rentals, available through services like Airbnb. Gainey said there are at last 4,000 short-term rental units in the city.
“Eighty percent of these short-term rentals are run by absentee landlords who own multiple properties in our city,” Gainey said. “This process is destroying generational wealth, removing stable housing from our communities and driving up the housing cost for everyone. These are properties that should be housing our community members.”
Gainey said to help combat rising prices and predatory practices, he would be proposing new regulations.
“We will be rolling out new policies to protect renters, support first time homeowners and invest in improving the overall quality of affordable housing in our city,” he said.
District 9 Council Member Khari Mosley also spoke at the news conference, and said it was going to take a collective effort to solve the city’s housing problems.
“It’s not just going to be government that’s going to solve this problem,” Mosley said. “It’s going to be our community partners, it’s going to be our housing advocates, it’s going to be our experts. It’s going to be folks who work in the policy realm around housing to all come together, as well as everyday Pittsburghers who can’t sleep at night because they’re wondering if they’re going to be able to stay in their homes or they’re going to be able to find an affordable place to rent within the city limits.”
Gainey said efforts to strengthen the Pittsburgh Land Bank, along with regulations on housing wholesalers and short-term rentals, were first steps toward protecting people who need housing.
“The common sense policies we’re working on will unlock thousands of homes, help stabilize rents and ensure that our neighborhoods remain places for people, not profit, and communities where Pittsburgh is can afford to live and stay and raise a family,” he said. “A house is not a home until we put a family in it. Once we put a family in it, we make a house a home, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”