New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know

What’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision? How has it been enforced in the past? And what do fair housing advocates think of the Biden Administration’s proposed changes? Shelterforce’s new Under the Lens series—New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know—explores that and more. This Under the Lens series launched in March 2023 and ran for two weeks. For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter.

Three children eating spaghetti at a kitchen table. One, wearing a striped shirt, is dangling a strand of spaghetti in the air and eating it from the end. The child on the right has a very messy face, and at left, a child in a high-chair is holding a spoon or fork.

Proposed AFFH Rule Doesn’t Address Renters Directly—But It Should

Liz Ryan Murray - March 31, 2023

A group of about 30 people stand in a large room with marble architectural details. All are smiling broadly. Three are holding signs: one says "#RightToCounsel" and two others say "Law Students for RTC."

Three Ways AFFH Has Advanced Housing Justice

Tram Hoang - March 21, 2023

Public Housing Must Be a Part of Fair Housing Planning

Natalie Maxwell - March 21, 2023

A colorful scene showing many kinds of houses including some that look like flying saucers. The residents include animals and aliens. In the foreground, a group of people and animals hold up a banner proclaiming "Neighborhoods are for everyone!"

Why Oregon Created Its Own AFFH Rule

Andrée Tremoulet - March 20, 2023

For more than a decade, fair housing advocates in the Beaver State had been looking for ways to connect housing and land use planning to promote the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule. Here’s how Oregon created its own state-level policy, and what’s to come.

What Is Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing?

Shelterforce Staff - March 14, 2023

Shelterforce has put together a short video to explain what "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing," or AFFH, means, and the history of its enforcement.

A black and white photo of seven people protesting racial discrimination in housing on a street corner, as a 1950s-era Buick drives past. The signs read "Stop racial discrimination now!"; "I support open housing"; "Don't patronize picture floor plans"; and a hand-lettered sign says "There can be no innocent bystanders." Most of the people in the photo are people of color; two are hidden by their signs.

AFFH’s Bumpy Road to Overcoming Segregation

Meir Rinde - March 14, 2023

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule was intended to force communities to take action to address housing segregation and discrimination. How has the rule evolved throughout the years, and will a proposed new rule finally put some teeth into the legal concept?

AFFH: Third Time’s the Charm?

Miriam Axel-Lute - March 13, 2023

What’s the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision? How has it been enforced in the past? And what do fair housing advocates think of the proposed changes? Shelterforce’s new Under the Lens series—New AFFH Rules: What You Need to Know—explores that and more.