Opinion

History often feels like a depressing account of the worst things people can do to each other. But a recent book contains reminders that nothing is inevitable, and sometimes people have done better than we’re doing now—even in terms of housing and social equity.

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.

There’s no denying that affordable housing can be expensive to build. But we need to look at the long-term benefits of those investments to see the bigger picture.

Homelessness rose by 12 percent between 2022 and 2023. Blaming drug use and immigration for the increase distracts us from the real causes.

Adding more credits and making tweaks do not actually address some of the major weaknesses of the program. We should be bolder.

As municipalities face post-pandemic fiscal shortages, there’s a longer-term danger lurking behind budget fights.

Legislators visited Vienna to learn about the city’s social housing program. Here’s how they say their states’ housing crises would benefit from similar policies.

The role of ‘heirs property’ in eroding Black families’ wealth

Because so many old buildings are hard to fully retrofit, new homes need to fill in the gap.

In 2018, the Family Self-Sufficiency Program was expanded to privately owned properties receiving project-based rental assistance. Here’s a look at how early adopters have used the program to support residents, and the lessons they learned along the way.

Arrangements in which LIHTC tenants share in the development’s financial benefits, or become partial or full owners, are rare—but some properties have pulled them off. This scan of several examples shows the possibilities—and the conditions needed for them to succeed.

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?