Dedicated from the beginning to everyone working to empower and support low-income communities, Shelterforce provides a venue for conversations that need to be had—on topics such as housing affordability, homeownership, and lots more.
Tag: affordable housing
Unmasking the Property Owners
There’s a reason land ownership is a matter of public record—but at the moment the records we have aren’t actually doing the job.
Developing Radical Goals for Black Homeownership: An NCRC Panel Discussion
What can be done to significantly advance Black homeownership and access to affordable housing? Watch the panel discussion.
A Way for Investors to Save Affordable Housing, Not Harm It
Investors have helped preserve more than 1,700 affordable housing units in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
The Financialization of Housing and Its Implications for Community Development
Over the last two decades homeowners and investors have increasingly treated housing as a financial asset, like stocks or bonds. How has this changed the housing market for the worse, and how can we fix it?
Q: Would More Housing Vouchers Increase Rents?
A: So far, researchers haven't found that an increase in vouchers by itself causes rents to rise.
Two Paths to Density: Profit vs People
As communities across the country begin promoting density to address the affordable housing crisis, they must grapple with how that housing will be built, and for whom.
Are Urban Planners Staying Silent on Climate Gentrification?
Holmdel, New Jersey, moved its affordable housing to flood-prone land, raising a question about planners' ethical obligations to speak up against such moves.
Making Affordable Housing Easier to Find
We talk a lot about needing more affordable housing—but the affordable units that do exist can be very hard to locate, which hampers fair housing.
Housers Build Bridges Over the Digital Divide
Internet connectivity has become equally important to households as basic utilities, but millions of people who live in affordable housing still lack access to devices and connections. Housing managers across the country are finding innovative ways to close the digital gap.
Doing Their Duty: Should Fannie, Freddie Invest More in Underserved Markets?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under a congressional mandate to improve investment in three specific kinds of housing markets—but Congress didn’t say by how much, and advocates say they could be doing far more.
Shared Housing Tackles Loneliness in Homeless Services
Transitioning out of homelessness can be a lonely process. To address this, some homeless service providers are giving clients the option to share housing with someone they know, with each receiving their own bedroom.
Look Close to Home for Construction Cost Savings
We don’t have to turn to fancy tech to lower the cost of building.
9 Tips for Overcoming NIMBY Opposition
Lessons for affordable housing developers from the trenches.
What Is NIMBYism and How Do Affordable Housing Developers Respond to...
NIMBYism is often expressed as concerns about crime, congestion, schools, property values, and “quality of life.” But when developments are built these fears rarely come to pass.
Building Differently: Can It Reduce Construction Costs?
Experiments to lower construction costs, from reusing shipping containers to 3D printing walls, have been happening for years. But are any of these approaches able to provide meaningful savings at scale?
A Tangled Web: The Problem with Fragmented Housing Assistance
We don’t really have a housing assistance system. We have hundreds of them. And that's part of why it's so hard to get rent relief out.
The Gentrification Reality: A Response
We must continue studying and fighting gentrification, rather than abandon the concept altogether.
A Once Reliable Way to Refinance Older Affordable Housing Gets Harder...
It had been relatively easy for a developer to get 4 percent tax credits, but that’s no longer true in many places. How is this affecting nonprofit housing developers—and could the human infrastructure bill help?
From Mobile Home Parks to Multifamily Housing Cooperatives
As tenants organize to take over their buildings, there's been an increased interest in going the co-op route. Could the networks that support resident-owned mobile home park communities shift their focus to support residents of multifamily buildings that want to go co-op?
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.