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Housing
Housing matters. A stable, quality, affordable home is a foundation for so many other parts of life. How do we bring it in reach for everyone?
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Targeting First-Generation Homebuyers Is a Great Way to Direct Downpayment Assistance—And It Could Be Better
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.
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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?
Let’s Act Now to Stop Racism in Real Estate Appraisals
In 2022, a government task force released an action plan about combating bias in the appraisal industry. How can CDFIs fight back against the damage caused by under-appraisals?
A Critical Look at the Section 8 Program, a Webinar
In September, Shelterforce’s Shelby R. King was invited to participate in a virtual “Housing Hangout.” Panelists discussed the history of the Section 8 program, its strong points and failings, and ideas for large-scale reforms.
West Virginia Tackles Vacancy With Tax Reform
In 2018, Shelterforce wrote about the Center for Community Progress’s recommendations for tax reform in West Virginia to address vacancy. Guided by CCP’s suggestions, the state auditor’s office has recently passed two laws to change its tax sales process and keep properties in use.
Low-Barrier Motel Shelter Is a Success—But Not an Easy One
Many guests at Motels4Now are on their second or third stays—but staff say that doesn’t equal failure, and the numbers bear them out.
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.
How It’s Working: Laws That Help Tenants and Nonprofits Buy Buildings
Shelterforce checks in on three communities that have passed policies giving tenants and nonprofits first dibs on purchasing property. Are these policies keeping residents in their homes?
Checked Out: How LA Failed to Stop Landlords From Turning Low-Cost Housing Into Tourist Hotels
Fifteen years ago Los Angeles passed a law to preserve residential hotels as housing of last resort. Now, amid the homelessness crisis, Capital & Main and ProPublica found some hotels may be violating that law by offering rooms to tourists.
Nonprofit Affordable Housing Developers Navigate Troubled Waters
As housing and building costs rise, nonprofit developers find themselves with strained resources as pandemic relief dries up and tenants need housing assistance more than ever.
Why Housing Policy Should Include More Funding for Home Repairs
Researchers found that older homeowners in St. Louis averaged $13,000 in unmet home repairs. Here’s how advocates can measure home repair need in their own cities, and why repairs make a difference.
‘Renters Are Struggling’: Economists Back Tenant-Led Push for Federal Rent Control
“We have seen corporate landlords—who own a larger share of the rental market than ever before—use inflation as an excuse to hike rents and reap excess profits beyond what should be considered fair and reasonable.”
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.