Blockbusting the Big Boys: Bill Would Ban Hedge Funds from Owning Single-Family Homes
The End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act is an ambitious attempt to keep private equity’s influence out of single-family homes. If passed, the bill will need ownership transparency to be effective.
Running Rampant: How Short-Term Rentals Affect Communities with Loose Restrictions
Brendan O’Brien, author of “Homesick,” talks with us about his new book, and what’s he’s learned about the effects of short-term rentals in communities like Flagstaff, Arizona; Bozeman, Montana; and St. George, Utah.
How ‘Tenant Stewards’ Are Using TOPA to Form a Co-op
Organized by a pandemic-era mutual aid group, this housing cooperative is taking advantage of D.C.’s pioneering Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. But the pressure of paying back a loan with mounting interest could stymie the group’s plans to provide affordable housing.
The Unfulfilled Potential of D.C.’s TOPA Law
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase laws empower renters to get control when their buildings go up for sale. But in D.C., the hurdles to becoming owners are many, and often insurmountable.
How Organizers in Rio’s Favelas Are Harnessing Solar Energy
Neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro face a multitude of challenges, including social and racial inequity, and a lack of public services. This organization is hoping to prove that solar energy can benefit neighborhoods, lower electric bills, and provide jobs.
Squatters Ask Chicago: Why So Many Vacancies?
Officials in Chicago are struggling to address the city’s homelessness and housing crises. So why does the Chicago Public Housing Authority have one of the highest rates of vacancy in the country?
San Francisco Is Fighting to Keep Its Homeless Sweeps Going—With or Without Shelter
Courts are curbing cities’ ability to threaten, cite, or arrest people merely for being homeless. Now states and cities are searching for loopholes to avoid the injunctions.
What Happened to Rent Control in Minneapolis?
Minneapolis voters gave their city council the power to enact rent control by ordinance. Two years later, the future of rent control is still in limbo.
What Can We Learn From the U.K.’s Council Housing? (Hint: Vienna Isn’t the Only Example of Transformative Social Housing.)
Social historian John Boughton explains how the U.K.’s social housing system changed millions of low- and middle-income people’s lives—and how privatization has crippled its power.
How One Organization Is Preserving Housing Co-Ops
A group formed to promote student housing co-ops in the ’60s is acquiring and preserving cooperative housing for future generations.
Sweeps Aren’t Outreach—Policing Homelessness Still Doesn’t Work
A new study shines light on the connection between homeless outreach teams and policing, and examines why so many cities are still using resident complaints to guide their response to the homelessness crisis.
Jersey City Grants Free Counsel to Renters Facing Eviction
Jersey City renters can’t keep up with a housing crisis fueled by proximity to New York City. A new right to counsel program, funded by development fees, could help.