Housing

In São Paulo, vacant housing units outnumber the unhoused, 12 times over. Across the city, residents have responded by seizing abandoned buildings to turn them into affordable housing. Will the government step up to convert these buildings into public housing?

A church with a shrinking congregation sold its land to SquareOne Villages to develop the Peace Village Co-op, a 70-unit housing development that’s both a community land trust and limited-equity co-op. How does combining these shared-equity homeownership models work?

The proposed program could shrink the racial homeownership gap while serving a wide cross-section of people. But it only addresses some of the results of past discrimination.

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.

There are reforms and expansions of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit afoot. But some in the field argue that we need to change the tax credit model of financing housing more deeply—or move away from it entirely. Join scholars and organizers as they discuss these issues and explore a path forward.

This video breaks down the LIHTC rent-setting process, and shows the surprising number of people it doesn’t serve.

Intake questions about past evictions and mental health stopped families of color from accessing long-term housing support, but agencies in Arizona and elsewhere are asking new questions.

Seila Mosquera-Bruno’s story is one of resilience. Arriving in the U.S. as a single mother at 24, she is now Connecticut’s commissioner of housing. This video is part of Shelterforce’s Women of Color on the Front Lines series.

Four disability advocates and experts explain what’s needed to house Americans with disabilities and some of the work that’s being done to get there.

The VA’s program doesn’t completely meet the needs of all unhoused veterans, but it’s close. That stands in stark relief to the non-veteran population. 

Sandra Hudson has worked for 30 years to improve the lives of residents as the executive director of a housing authority in Northwest Georgia. Her accomplishments range from improved building materials to more equitable RAD agreements—and plenty in between.

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.