finance

Housing funding programs are notoriously fragmented. One way to make limited housing dollars go further is to improve the systems that distribute them.

The Homes for the Future fund aims create long-haul affordability without public funding by buying homes now and selling them to community land trusts after a period of renting them out.

Enabled by provisions in the JOBS Act of 2012 that allow smaller scale investing, community members are becoming co-owners of local real estate projects.

The Federal Housing Administration may soon allow homeowners to count projected rent toward their qualifying income to build an accessory dwelling unit. While ADU advocates call the change “monumental,” the proposed policy isn’t perfect.

In the face of limited financing options, local governments, nonprofits, and social enterprises are experimenting with ways to make affordable ADUs a reality.

Most homeowners have neither the capital nor the credit to self-finance an ADU or get a loan to build one. If financing doesn’t change, ADUs will stay niche and expensive.

The Community Reinvestment Act was created to address racist lending practices, but it doesn’t specify race. Special purpose credit programs could help.