Detroit Mayor Sheffield signs executive order to make affordable housing accessible

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It just got easier to fund affordable housing projects in the City of Detroit.

Mayor Mary Sheffield signed an executive order with the goal of streamlining projects and making affordable housing more accessible.

Big picture view:

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield making an executive order with the goal of raising more funds for affordable housing.

This is going to affect the inclusionary housing ordinance. How that works is that there's a trust fund set up so that whenever there’s a sale of commercial property in the city, 20% of that sale would go towards this trust fund for affordable housing.

Eventually, it was raised to 40%, but now Mayor Sheffield is making it so that 100% of those proceeds from commercial-based sales in the city go toward that trust fund.

This is expected to raise about $4 million a year. A news conference was taking place at Lajoya Gardens, which is an affordable housing project that opened in 2025 with rent around $540. 

What they're saying:

Now the idea is that this new order should mean more projects like this could come to fruition.

Here is what they said.

"70% of the funds must go toward units at 30% AMI or below. This is housing for the extremely low-income residents in our city, which is really the greatest need of housing we have in the city of Detroit," said Mayor Sheffield.

"This opportunity to see things changing and the mayor doing such big beautiful things for the community is making a big difference, especially for somebody like me that would need it," said Lajoya Gardens Resident Nora Rodriguez. "When I came to Lajoya, I had been to many other apartments and didn’t get the opportunity I needed. Finally, I got the opportunity I needed to get in last minute right here at Lajoya and I couldn’t ask for anything better."

What's next:

This order takes effect July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.