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New Pittsburgh housing program looks to eliminate blight, help first-time home buyers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2025/06/27/housing-pittsburgh-abandoned-taxes/stories/202506260103
With thousands of abandoned properties under the city’s ownership, Pittsburgh is eyeing a new program that will bring life back into the structures and add much needed tax revenue to bolster its coffers.
The program’s trial run, which won’t officially start until September, includes five homes in the Mt. Washington, Sheraden, Windgap and West End neighborhoods. Some have been empty for decades, but each has provoked the ire of the neighbors with overgrown weeds, crumbling fences and an overall look of abandonment.
The plan is for the city to list those buildings, as is, for interested buyers to fix up. The city sees it as a three-fold win. In addition to the new tax revenue, it will reduce the number of dilapidated city-owned properties and remove barriers to first-time homebuyers.
“It’s targeted to individuals looking to buy a starter home and as we all know the cost of actually purchasing houses keeps increasing and is limiting some people to actually buying a first home,” finance director Jen Gula said during a recent meeting with Pittsburgh City Council. “We’re trying to provide them with another opportunity to do that.”
- more at link -
The program’s trial run, which won’t officially start until September, includes five homes in the Mt. Washington, Sheraden, Windgap and West End neighborhoods. Some have been empty for decades, but each has provoked the ire of the neighbors with overgrown weeds, crumbling fences and an overall look of abandonment.
The plan is for the city to list those buildings, as is, for interested buyers to fix up. The city sees it as a three-fold win. In addition to the new tax revenue, it will reduce the number of dilapidated city-owned properties and remove barriers to first-time homebuyers.
“It’s targeted to individuals looking to buy a starter home and as we all know the cost of actually purchasing houses keeps increasing and is limiting some people to actually buying a first home,” finance director Jen Gula said during a recent meeting with Pittsburgh City Council. “We’re trying to provide them with another opportunity to do that.”
I live on the North Side and there's an abandoned house in my neighborhood that has been empty and neglected for 20 years. Sheesh! The city could have sold it for taxes long ago but they let it sit there. Now it probably isn't worth much of anything. I'm sure a lot of neighborhoods have similar stories.
Anyone who is willing and able to do their own repairs and rehabs can find many cheap properties in Pittsburgh. It's a do-it-yourselfers dream.
