Affordable Housing

A home is “affordable” when you can pay the rent and have money left over to pay for other needs. Housing costs should generally be about one-third of a household’s income. In Fairfax County, 44% of renters pay more than 30% of their income each month on housing. The current average rent for an apartment in the Herndon-Reston area is around $2,450 per month. Seniors are especially impacted by the lack of affordable housing as well as important members of our community: teachers, health care workers, police, fire and emergency personnel, etc.  

Affordable housing allows people to live where they work. It helps to stabilize families. It contributes to the local economy. It provides a place for seniors and others to stay close to family members. Fairfax County could not thrive without a housing market able to accommodate the diverse income levels of all its workers. Affordable housing is not just an issue for lower-income and underserved populations -- it is a vital resource which benefits everyone.

We are working with Fairfax County to discover if some of our under-utilized property can be leveraged to help people in the county afford to live in a decent home. These homes would be affordable for households earning incomes at approximately 60% of the Area’s Median Income (AMI), which is currently $108,300 for an individual, $123,750 for a couple, and $157,400 for a family of four. These homes would not be subsidized housing, but something offered to qualified individuals at about 20% less than current rental market rates.

Leaders at Community of Faith spent over a year discussing and discerning how the church could better connect and serve the community, especially in addressing the key needs we often heard: food insecurity, after-school childcare, affordable housing, and meaningful connection with God and one another.  

At the beginning. Our plans are still in the conceptual stage and no financial partner or builder has been identified. The Board of Supervisors approved putting the church’s conceptual proposal into their Tier 3 work program on June 10th. (Tier 3 is the lowest priority.) According to Supervisor Kathy Smith, acceptance into a Tier 3 Work program is “a procedural step that would allow the proposal to be studied further to see if the Comprehensive Plan should be amended. It is not an approval for development. Inclusion on the Work Program gives County staff the ability to more thoroughly evaluate the proposal, collect data, engage stakeholders, and address many of the questions and concerns raised. Tier 3 nominations are assigned the lowest priority level and typically present constraints or complexities that make immediate study less feasible.” Supervisor Smith acknowledged the existing challenges along Franklin Farm Road and the possibility that additional development could intensify those issues. “These concerns are valid and highlight the importance of allowing this nomination to move forward for further study. Without further evaluation, many key questions cannot be fully answered.”  

The church’s next steps over the coming year will be to engage with community members to better understand their concerns, assist in having impact studies conducted and analyzed (e.g., environment, traffic, noise, etc.), and share results back to the community for further evaluation and discussion. These studies will provide a good opportunity to have constructive dialogue over key concerns with professional engineers and county staff as part of the conversation.

Over the last few months, we have initiated several community engagements to include reaching out to the Franklin Farm Board and key stakeholders, offering several small listening circles with residents of the Franklin Farm community, and hosting our first larger community meeting in May with selected leaders. We likewise began conversations with Board of Supervisors Sully District representative, Kathy Smith, to find ways the County may help us address concerns and opportunities. We intend to host ongoing "drop in" Community Meetings for any and all interested individuals beginning in the Fall of 2025 to share information and better understand concerns.

Check this website for updates as they occur. You may also send an email to our leadership board with any questions or comments. In addition, we will be happy to add you to our Affordable Housing e-mail list to ensure you receive updates as they become available.  You can sign up by clicking the teal button below.