The Pine Bluff City Council Community Development Committee gave a do-pass recommendation Tuesday to draft a lease-to-purchase policy concerning affordable housing.
Jerry Riley, executive director of the Jefferson County Community Development Corp., which has built affordable housing for the Pine Bluff Economic and Community Development Department, said he wants to have a lease-to-purchase policy because he wants to put people in the houses.
Such an alternative would make the difference between someone living in the affordable houses versus no one living in the affordable houses, said Larry Matthews, director of Pine Bluff Economic and Community Development.
Specifically, the group discussed six affordable houses near the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus. Of the six houses, one house has been sold. Another two houses have people qualified to purchase them.
Bob Francis, a consultant with Community Development Corp., said the city needs to have a lease-to-purchase policy.
Francis said the federal government wants the affordable houses to be occupied. He said that there is a requirement that states that homes that are not sold need to be leased or rented.
For details, people may call the Community Development Corp. at 870-536-1074.