Approximately 20,000 affordable homes have been lost in New York City from 2002 to 2008, due to rent deregulations and an increase of market-rate homes coming on the market, according to a recent NYU study. However, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero appeared on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC to share his take on the report’s findings. “While there was a loss of affordable homes from 2002 to 2005, the report also shows a significant net increase in affordable housing from 2005 to 2008,” Cestero said. “Former HPD Secretary Shaun Donovan laid a terrific foundation of 94,000 affordable units during that time.” He also attributed the net increase to Mayor Bloomberg’s aggressive 10-year affordable housing plan, which kicked off in 2005. “The losses of units incurred during 2002 to 2005 were completely arrested by 2008,” he said. Cestero said he plans to continue adding affordable units to the market and meet the HPD’s goal of adding 165,000 affordable units by the end of 2014. “While the inclusionary program, which requires private developers to build developments with 20 percent affordable units, will generate of thousands of units, the biggest piece of the plan will be investments in existing affordable housing buildings and insuring people are able to stay there for the long term,” Cestero said.

Housing advocates say that while the Obama administration’s mortgage
modification program could help thousands of New Yorkers, it has been
slow to get off the ground, and the majority of people who have applied
for help have yet to hear whether they will receive it. The Center for
New York City Neighborhoods, a public-private agency that connects
homeowners with counselors approved by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, has overseen 400 applications for the Making Home
Affordable program, and so far, only about 100 of those mortgages have
been modified. The rest of the applications are pending with lenders,
with people often waiting more than 60 days for a response. “The
promise of this program is enormous,” said Rafael Cestero, commissioner
of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. “It’s a
brand-new program and it’s a very complicated issue, but we all share
the feeling that it’s been moving too slowly.” [more]

The city is tracking potentially troubled rent-stabilized apartment buildings with an eye toward influencing how they are transferred following a foreclosure, said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero. A preliminary analysis undertaken for the first time by HPD would classify many recently purchased rent-stabilized apartment buildings as over-leveraged. The city wants to keep track of the buildings because financially distressed buildings can bring down the quality of life for tenants and entire neighborhoods, Cestero said in City Council testimony yesterday at a hearing on private equity ownership of rental apartment buildings. “Buildings that fall into foreclosure or that transfer ownership multiple times also have had the potential to see significant physical distress, which is obviously not good for tenants,” he said. [more]

From the April issue: As the city’s housing prices fall, credit
dries up and affordable housing goals are threatened, new Housing
Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero has a lot on
his plate. Cestero took office in the middle of last month after his
predecessor, Shaun Donovan, headed to Washington, D.C., to become
President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Donovan had been commissioner since 2004, and Cestero was his deputy
between 2004 and 2007. As deputy commissioner, Cestero helped develop
the city’s $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace Plan, the mayor’s
10-year initiative to create 165,000 units of affordable housing. He
also played a role in establishing the NYC Acquisition Fund, which
helps developers create affordable housing through faster access to
equity. Real estate pros say Cestero has a lot to do, including
reviewing old policies that might help the real estate community, and
furthering the mayor’s affordable housing plan on a smaller budget. [more]