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Inclusionary Housing Calculator
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We are filling in values for a hypothetical project in a hypothetical place. You can adjust the affordability requirement to see how much affordable housing can be supported.

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Enter my New Project

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FEASIBLE
NOT FEASIBLE
Profit is too low
AFFORDABLE UNITS
AS % OF TOTAL UNITS
PROJECT
  • Units per acre: 0
  • Total square feet: 0
  • Total parking spaces: 0
DESCRIPTION
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Description

Enter a name or description for this project.
Tenure
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Tenure

Rental or Ownership
  • Rental
  • Ownership
BASE UNITS
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Base Units

Number of units in the building (excluding any density bonus units)
SITE AREA
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Site Area (acres or hectares)

Size of the property (in acres or hectares) on which the project will be built
PARKING RATIO (spaces per unit)
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Parking Ratio (spaces per unit)

The number of parking spaces compared to the number of units in the building. Generally based on local planning/zoning requirements.
COMMON AREA %
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Common Area %

The share of the overall building that is made up of hallways, common space, etc. instead of individual units.
COMMERCIAL SPACE (sq ft)
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Commercial Space (square feet)

The size (in square feet) of any retail or office space in the project
COMMERCIAL RENT (per sq ft, per month)
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Commercial Rent (per sq ft, per month)

The rent per square foot per month for any retail or office space in the project
OTHER RENTAL INCOME (per month)
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Other Rental Income (per month)

The total monthly income from any other source such as parking or laundry fees
UNIT MIX
  • Basic Mode
  • Detailed Mode
AVERAGE MARKET RENT
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Average Market Rent (per month)

The average rent for units in this development
AVERAGE MARKET PRICE
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Average Market Price

The average price for units in this development
UNIT SPECIFICATIONS
# units avg. size (sq. ft) approx. rent
Studio
1BR
2BR
3BR
4BR
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AFFORDABILITY
  • Total affordable units: 0
  • Total affordable housing fee: 0
AFFORDABLE UNITS AS % OF TOTAL UNITS
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Affordable Units as % of Total Units

The share of housing units in a project that are sold or rented at a regulated affordable price
METHOD OF AFFORDABLE PRICE CALCULATION
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Method of Affordable Price Calculation

'Income based' calculates affordable prices based on a target income category. 'Price based' calculates prices based on a fixed discount relative to the market price. With 'Custom' you must input your own prices for each size and type of unit.
  • Income based
  • Price based
  • Custom
AVERAGE LOCAL MARKET HOME PRICE
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Average Local Market Home Price

Published median or average home sales price for the area (not this project)
AVERAGE LOCAL MARKET RENT
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Average Local Market Rent

Published median or average rent for the area (not this project)
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEE
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Community Benefit Fee (per unit)

Some communities require or allow payment of a fee to support development of affordable housing instead of providing onsite units. Note: be sure to set Affordable Units to 0% if you intend for this fee to take the place of onsite units
AMI: AREA MEDIAN INCOME for a family of 4
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Area median income

Area Median Income is a typical way of measuring affordability levels for housing policy. Defined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on an annual basis, you can find the latest Area Median Income for your area published by HUD at http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il.html
HOMEBUYER MORTGAGE RATE
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Homebuyer Mortgage Rate

The interest rate that homebuyers will pay on their mortgage loans.
PROPERTY TAXES
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Property Taxes

Property tax rate that the owner will pay
INSURANCE
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Insurance

Cost of property insurance as a percent of total property cost
HOA AND OTHER COSTS
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Maintenance Charges (per month)

Maintenance charges are charged to all condominium and townhouse units as well as to many single-family units in planned developments.
AFFORDABILITY STANDARD
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Affordability standard

The percent of household income that can reasonably go towards total housing costs, typically between 30 and 35%.
  • 30%
  • 33%
  • 35%
ASSUMED DOWN PAYMENT
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Assumed Down Payment

The amount of equity that a buyer invests in a new home - usually no less than 5%.
  • 0%
  • 3%
  • 5%
  • 10%
  • 20%
Affordable units breakdown
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Affordability Levels

When using Income-Based affordability calculation, only the dollar values affect calculations. The percentile income is just a label for reference.
AFFORDABILITY LEVELS
affordability level bchlr 1br 2br 3br 4br
A
percentile income:
of AMI
of market
B
percentile income:
of AMI
of market
C
percentile income:
of AMI
of market

This development doesn't contain any affordable units.

Adjust “AFFORDABLE UNITS” at the top of the page to add some affordable units to your development.

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INCENTIVES
AVAILABLE INCENTIVES     make small
Density Bonus
An allowance for additional bonus units.
Parking Reduction
The developer is required to build fewer parking spaces.
Streamlined Processing
The process of applications, permitting etc. is expedited.
Fee Reduction
A reduction in fee, based on the number of units.
Tax Abatement
The developer is incentivized with a reduction in taxes.
Grant (per unit)
A developer grant based on the number of units.
Annual Operating Grant
Any annual grant or operating subsidy incl. any rent subsidies.
MY INCENTIVES
Click on the incentives you’d like to add to the project.
  • Units per acre: 0
  • Total Square Feet: 0
  • Total Parking Spaces: 0
DEVELOPMENT COST
  • Total Development Costs per square foot: 0
  • Development cost per unit: 0
CONSTRUCTION COSTS
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Construction Costs (per sq ft, per sq meter, total cost, or cost per unit)

Construction hard costs include all construction material, labour, and general contractor overhead. Construction costs depend on building type. Buildings built with wood frames are much cheaper than those built with concrete or steel frames, for example.
LAND COST
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Land Cost (per acre, per hectare, total cost, or cost per unit)

This is the price that a developer would need to pay to acquire the property.
ALLOWABLE LAND COST
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Allowable Land Cost

The maximum amount a developer can spend on land while staying within profitability requirements. This number is calculated for you when in Residual Land Value mode.
COST PER PARKING SPACE
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Cost per Parking Space

The cost of parking depends on the type of parking being provided. It costs far more to build a parking space underground or in a parking garage than it costs to build a surface parking space.
SALES AND MARKETING COSTS
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Sales and Marketing Costs (as % of the sales price of the property)

Cost of real estate commissions and other sales and marketing costs.
SOFT COSTS (as % of hard costs)
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Soft Costs (as % of hard costs)

All Soft Costs excluding Development Charges (see below); These typically range between 15 and 25% of hard costs. Soft costs include: - architectural and engineering costs - legal and insurance fees - planning approval fees - environmental clearance and building permits (also called entitlements) - other professional consulting fees or costs not connected to the physical building of the project. Financing costs are included below under financing.
OTHER DEVELOPMENT COSTS (total)
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Other Development Costs (total)

Include any other special costs such as landscaping, street furniture, lighting, and other outdoor amenities.
RESIDENTIAL IMPACT FEES
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Development Charges (per unit)

Insert development charges (if any) imposed by the municipality on the project.
CONDO WRAP INSURANCE (per unit)
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Condo wrap insurance / Tarion Home Warranty Fee (per unit)

Developers of for-sale condominiums buy 'wrap insurance' that covers any potential risks and liabilities during the construction and sale of the units. Enter the cost per unit.
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OPERATING COST
  • Net Operating Income: 0
RENTAL VACANCY RATE
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Rental Vacancy Rate (% of units)

The percent of units in a rental property that are vacant after the initial lease-up period is over. Five percent vacancy is considered fully occupied with regular turnover.
RENTAL OPERATING COST
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Rental Operating Cost (% of gross revenue)

The percent of gross rental revenue that is dedicated to operations and upkeep.
FINANCING
  • Construction Loan Amount: 0
  • Development Costs per Unit: 0
CONSTRUCTION LOAN INTEREST RATE
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Construction Loan Interest Rate

The interest rate on a developer's construction loan
LOAN TO COST RATIO
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Loan to Cost Ratio

The share of the total project cost that a developer finances with the construction loan
PERIOD OF INITIAL LOAN (months)
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Period of Initial Loan (Months)

The likely construction period for a project (in months)
INITIAL CONSTRUCTION LOAN FEE (points)
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Initial Construction Loan Fee (Points)

The fee paid to a lender at closing on a construction loan (as a % of the total loan amount)
AVERAGE OUTSTANDING BALANCE
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Average Outstanding Balance

Construction loans are drawn down as funds are needed to pay for development expenses so the total cost in interest is dependent on the pace of development. The Average Outstanding Balance is the share of the total that is outstanding on average in each month of construction.
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PROFITABILITY
  • Total Profit: 0
MEASURE OF PROFITABILITY
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Measure of Profitability

Which measure or profitability will be used to determine whether the project is financially feasible?
  • Profit as a % of Development cost
  • Yield on Cost
  • Residual Land Value
REQUIRED PROFIT (% of development costs)
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Required Profit (% of development costs)

The total developer profit as a percent of total development costs required to build this project. The project is considered feasible if the profit is above this threshold.
REQUIRED YIELD ON COST
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Required Yield on Cost

The minimum yield on cost at which a developer will deem a project feasible. Often this value is near 10%.
CAP RATE
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Cap Rate

The capitalization rate, or 'cap rate,' is the ratio between the Net Operating Income and the project's value. The cap rate is used to calculate the value of a rental property. Cap rates differ among different project types and markets and depending on the level of risk.

Yield on Cost and Cap Rate

Generally the Required Yield on Cost and the Cap Rate change together. Developers commonly expect to earn a yield that is 1 to 2 percentage points higher than the relevant cap rate. When cap rates rise or fall, expected yields tend to rise or fall with them. If you are changing one of these inputs, consider adjusting the other by a similar amount.

Welcome to the Inclusionary Housing Calculator!
Your goal is to ensure that your project remains financially feasible (with a green check mark) as you change the inputs.
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The right bar contains some more detailed information on your project. This information updates in real time as you make changes to project parameters.
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Let's start by adding some affordable units to your project. You can either drag the white slider, or enter a percentage into the field.

Try setting 10% or more affordable units.
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Notice the changes to your project as you adjust the percentage of affordable units (e.g. costs go up and profit goes down as you add more affordable units). To offset these changes, you might try adding some incentives. Scroll down to the “Incentives” section and experiment with the sliders and fields there. Click “More” on the lower right under Incentives to see more options.
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For more details on the specifications and financials of the current project, click the "Report" button.
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To return to the main calculator page from the Report page, click on the “Home” button.
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The Calculator lets you save multiple projects. When you’re ready, you can use the Save button, and the Projects menu at the right to save and switch between projects.
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Have fun!
The Calculator is meant to invite exploration. Enter some values that reflect a real-world project, or just try out some of the pre-fab templates. Drag sliders, change values, and see how these changes can affect your project.
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