Is an Infrastructure Investment in Housing on Its Way?
The affordable housing industry considers the prospect of unprecedented funding if Biden’s housing as infrastructure plans make it through Congress.
Millions of Tenants at Risk of Eviction, Billions in Rental Assistance Undelivered
After a monthslong game of “kick the ban,” the eviction moratorium issued last September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is...
Right to Counsel Movement Gains Traction
New York City became the first in the nation to give low-income tenants free legal representation. Now, several other counties and cities have either passed similar legislation or have drafted bills in the pipeline.
Housing Solutions—Centering Community in Ownership, Control, and Long-Term Affordability
How is community control of housing realized? We explore different community ownership structures, how tenants form a cooperative, and how larger housing nonprofits can incorporate residents into decision-making.
How to Get Racial Equity into Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
Congress has an opportunity it must not squander to acknowledge the racial inequity built into our failing infrastructure and put into operation the promise of equity in Biden’s infrastructure plans.
Tenant Advocates Win as Security Deposit Bill Is Vetoed in Baltimore
Baltimore's mayor vetoed a “Renter’s Choice” law after housing advocates warned of the predatory potential of selling deposit alternatives to struggling tenants.
To Fight Family Homelessness, HUD Must Count It Correctly
What should we be doing now to address the increasing number of children who are expected to suffer pandemic-related homelessness?
Don’t Go Back to Old Economic Development Ways
Cities have led the way in enacting equity-focused pandemic policies. It’s time to build on that momentum, starting with neighborhoods.
A Movement-Based Federal Housing Agenda
What are the New Deal for Housing Justice and the BREATHE Act and how do they move beyond previous housing agendas?
From PETRA to RAD—The Path to Converting 140,000 Public Housing Units
More than $10 billion in private financing has been invested in public housing thanks to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. But housing advocates say it comes at a cost, and there still isn’t enough oversight of the program.
HUD Has Money for Tenant Organizing. Why Isn’t the Agency Spending It?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can provide $10 million to tenant organizers each year, but the funding has largely gone unspent since the early 2000s. Will that change with a new administration and newly approved HUD secretary?
Now and Then: Rent Control, Rental Assistance, and Universal Vouchers
In the second installment of updates to Shelterforce articles of old, we check in on how well some of the recommendations, predictions, and worries about rent control, rental assistance, and universal vouchers have aged.
Fair Housing and Zoning: Toward a New Boston?
How Boston became the first city to add fair housing to its zoning regulations.
Did America Vote to Tackle Race and Health Inequities?
The ushering in of a new administration is a good time to reflect on some key 2020 ballot measures that have either advanced or hurt racial and health equity.
HUD Won’t Help With Back Rent Until Eviction Moratoriums Are Gone
Housing groups across the country are hoping HUD under the Biden administration will allow the use of Emergency Services Grants to prevent evictions.
Moving from the Inequitable Housing System We Have to the Housing System We Need
Three big, but basic, things that we could do right now to get us much closer to equity in housing.
Say It Ain’t So, Joe: Biden’s Ill-Advised Plan to Eliminate Exclusionary Zoning
A counterintuitive argument contends that from a housing justice perspective, the Biden administration's attack on exclusionary zoning is imprudent.
In Unprecedented Times, Nothing Less Than Universal Rent Relief Will Do
If we stick with yesterday’s policy and programs in an unprecedented year of crisis, we will leave an unconscionable number of people, families, and communities behind.
How Democrats Can Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis
With Democrats taking back the Senate, can the Biden administration go beyond immediate-term rent relief to win more ambitious housing solutions?
Housing Policy Needs Abolition Too
Abolition—as a mode of mobilization and social change directed at the criminal legal system and elsewhere—remains widely misunderstood.