Tag: homeownership
Can Residents Get More Out of Tax Credit Housing?
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.
West Virginia Tackles Vacancy With Tax Reform
In 2018, Shelterforce wrote about the Center for Community Progress's recommendations for tax reform in West Virginia to address vacancy. Guided by CCP's suggestions, the state auditor’s office has recently passed two laws to change its tax sales process and keep properties in use.
What Can We Learn From the U.K.’s Council Housing? (Hint: Vienna...
Social historian John Boughton explains how the U.K.’s social housing system changed millions of low- and middle-income people’s lives—and how privatization has crippled its power.
The Dirty Little Secret—Rising Property Values Are Incompatible with Affordability
Rising property values come with positive community development, but this shift can make neighborhoods inaccessible to low-income renters and fixed-income homeowners.
The Racists Next Door: Black Homebuyers Face Discrimination After Purchasing, Too
The danger of unwelcoming neighbors should not be underestimated.
Homeowners Seeking Foreclosure Assistance Face Delays and Confusion in Many States
While a lot of attention has been paid to emergency rental assistance, foreclosure relief funds are also being distributed at the state level—and are also having mixed results getting to those who need them.
COVID Relief Funds Filling Some Housing Budget Gaps
As COVID relief funds have flowed out across the country, state and local governments have so far allotted at least $13.8 billion of their discretionary dollars to housing efforts.
Leaky Roof? A USDA Home Repair Option
One USDA program has given out over a billion dollars in rural home repair grants since its inception, and could be inspiration for similar programs in urban and suburban communities as well.
Vacant Homes Wither Under Flawed Tax Sale System
Outdated tax sale rules and predatory investment practices keep Baltimore homes in a revolving door of vacancy. But that could soon change.
Affordable ADUs: How It’s Being Done
In the face of limited financing options, local governments, nonprofits, and social enterprises are experimenting with ways to make affordable ADUs a reality.
ADUs: Defined, Disambiguated, and Debated
Accessory dwelling units are being touted as a way to provide more affordable rental units for tenants, and additional monthly income for homeowners. But some cities allow them, others don’t. So what are ADUs exactly?
How Tax Assessments are Racist
Between biased property appraisals that undervalue Black-owned properties and biased tax assessments that levy an unfair burden, homeowners of color are flanked by a double-whammy of racism.
Push Back on the Racial Wealth Gap—A Shelterforce Webinar
Authors from Shelterforce’s recent series about the racial wealth gap and other experts talk wealth building, wealth extraction, and the tools available to help close the gap.
Making Homeownership Work Better
Programs that help households of color buy homes haven't made much of a dent in the racial wealth gap. But some strategies could generate better outcomes for buyers.
Rethinking Homeownership Incentives to Shrink the Racial Wealth Gap
This set of federal tax policy recommendations could support first-time homebuyers, enable renters and owners to save money, and help close the wealth gap.
Increased Homeownership Won’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap
Despite the hopes pinned on it, homeownership is currently too affected by racism at every turn to be an equalizer.
Property Tax Relief Programs Don’t Reach Many Homeowners of Color
Property tax relief programs can be essential for helping older and lower-income homeowners keep their homes. But access to them isn’t universal, or equitable.
A Home’s True Worth—Getting Beyond Appraisal Bias
Homes owned by people of color are appraised for less than identical homes owned by white families. Nationwide, that’s led to more than $150 billion in lost equity. How can we stop appraisal bias?
Rethinking the Racial Wealth Gap With Anne Price
A lot of conversations about the racial wealth gap focuses too much on homeownership as the only solution. It's much more complex. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute talks with Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development.
Moving Beyond the Holy Trinity of Racial Wealth Gap Answers
We’ve been carrying out asset-building strategies for decades now, but the wealth gap has not shrunk. What needs to be done about it?