House raising
House raising (house lifting, house jacking, barn jacking, building jacking) is the process of separating a building from its foundation and temporarily raising it with hydraulic screw jacks. The process is the first step in structure relocation in which the building is moved to a different location. House raising may also be a part of a renovation to build a foundation under an existing house or make a house larger by building a new floor level creating a two story house. Often employed in areas that are prone to flooding and storm damage, this process can be achieved through the use of either timber piles or helical piles. Once a house is raised and supported on cribbing, a new foundation can be constructed beneath it. After Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy large numbers of houses in parts of Louisiana, New York and New Jersey were raised to avoid future flooding.
Housing trust fund
In 1983, Boston established its first linkage program to help balance commercial construction with construction of affordable, residential development. All commercial construction projects of more than 100,000 feet requiring zoning relief are required to pay linkage fees or construct affordable housing and/or fund job-training programs. As of April, 2006 the city's linkage fee for affordable housing was $7.87 per square foot and $1.57 per square foot for employment. Since 1986, the Neighborhood Housing Trust has managed expenditures of affordable housing linkage fees. More than $81 million in linkage fees have funded the new construction or preservation of more than 6,000 units of homeownership, rental, or cooperative housing for households earning less than 80% of the median income. Among other eligible uses, funds can be used to develop abandoned property or convert non-residential property to residential. All developments must remain affordable for 50 years for ownership housing and in perpetuity for rental housing.