Housing
The City of Pittsburgh is committed to implementing policies that promote, produce, and preserve access to affordable and equitable housing opportunities throughout the City that are safe and healthy and allow all residents to thrive.
Policy
Inclusionary Zoning
Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) ensures that neighborhoods can offer new housing units by tying the construction of affordable housing to that of market-rate housing. It is used in a variety of cities across the country, and was identified by the City’s Affordable Housing Task Force (AHTF) as a tool that could work here in Pittsburgh to address the shortage of affordable units.
Inclusionary zoning requires or encourages new residential developments to make a percentage of the units affordable to low- or moderate-income residents. It can be mandatory — in which the developer is required to provide affordable units — or incentivized, in which developers provide affordable units in exchange for increase building height, reduction of parking requirements, etc.
Inclusionary Zoning would apply to new construction or major renovation of projects that include 20 or more residential units for sale or for rent. It would not apply to renovation or construction of single-family homes, or to renovation or construction of buildings with fewer than 20 residential units. Projects that meet the size threshold would need to price 10% of units affordably (rounding up if a fraction).
| AMI | 1 PERSON | 2 PERSON | 3 PERSON | 4 PERSON | Studio/Eff | 1 Bedroom | 2 Bedroom | 3 Bedroom |
| 30% | $19,920 | $22,770 | $25,620 | $28,440 | $498 | $533 | $640 | $739 |
| 40% | $26,560 | $30,360 | $34,160 | $37,920 | $664 | $711 | $854 | $986 |
| 50% | $33,200 | $37,950 | $42,700 | $47,400 | $830 | $889 | $1,067 | $1,232 |
| 60% | $39,840 | $45,540 | $ 51,240 | $56,880 | $996 | $1,067 | $1,281 | $1,479 |
| 70% | $46,480 | $53,130 | $59,780 | $66,360 | $1,162 | $1,245 | $1,494 | $1,725 |
| 80% | $53,120 | $60,720 | $68,320 | $75,840 | $1,328 | $1,423 | $1,708 | $1,972 |
Reports & Resources
Detailed Mission
The mission of the Department of City Planning is to implement policies that will increase diverse housing opportunities for all residents by Promoting, Producing, and Preserving the access to affordable housing that is safe and healthy throughout the city for all residents to thrive.
Department of City Planning
200 Ross Street Fourth Floort
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you mean by “affordable”?
Rent or sale prices are based at certain percentages of the Area Median Income (AMI), which is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Department and varies by household size. For-rent inclusionary units will be set aside for households earning no more than 50% of AMI. For-sale inclusionary units, will be set aside for households earning no more than 80% of AMI. Inclusionary units will be priced at no more than 30% of income, based on these AMI standards. For example, using these pricing standards, a two-bedroom unit would rent for no more than $855, and a two-bedroom home would be listed for sale at no more than $128,000.
Where has the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance been adopted?
Currently, the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance is applicable in Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, and Polish Hill.
