Rep. Marc Molinaro hosted a roundtable discussion Monday to address the ongoing housing crisis facing Hudson Valley residents.

Officials and decision makers from all aspects of housing met to discuss the challenges they’re facing, including the price of building materials, keeping projects in line with highway, water and sewer standards and battling opposition to affordable and transitional housing opportunities.

“The average wage worker is shut out of the housing market, whether it be rental or starter homes in both of our counties," said Al Bellenchia, chief executive of Columbia-Greene Habitat for Humanity. "And so we’re looking to address that by building more. We are probably the only affordable housing developer building in our county.”

Also joining Molinaro was Columbia County Board of Supervisors chair Matt Murrell, and representatives from the Columbia-Greene Board of Realtors and the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation. 

Molinaro encouraged communities to try and be creative and collaborative when bringing housing projects forward.

He also noted Congress continues to fund tax credits that make it easier for developers to build housing and first-time homebuyers or low-income folks to purchase a home.

“And then using things like the Community Development Block Grants, HUD spending to drive down infrastructure cost to make housing more affordable, and the development of more accessible housing much greater,” Molinaro said.