Center Goal #2 - Strengthening Housing Policies for Working Families

The Center goes beyond documenting housing problems to identify proven solutions and bring them to the attention of community leaders. Through our research, we collect and analyze information on programs and policies from around the country that have been shown to expand housing opportunities for working families. We share this information in an easy-to-follow format that provides a roadmap for developing effective state and local housing strategies.

Through HousingPolicy.org, our new online guide to state and local housing policy, the Center provides information on a broad range of state and local housing policy tools, as well as guidance on how to put these tools together to create a comprehensive housing strategy. While geared primarily to policymakers, HousingPolicy.org is written and organized for use by visitors from all backgrounds and experience levels -- from those completely new to housing to veteran practitioners. The site will be continuously updated to reflect user feedback and new innovations in housing policy.

The initial framework for HousingPolicy.org was developed through an earlier Center publication, Increasing the Availability of Affordable Homes: A Handbook of High-Impact State and Local Solutions (January 2007). This handbook identifies six broad strategies that state and local governments can adopt to preserve and increase the supply of homes affordable to working families, along with 22 specific policies to help implement these strategies. Brief case studies show how these solutions have worked in communities around the country.

Want more detail? A 115-page detailed analysis accompanies the handbook. It provides an in-depth discussion of the 22 policies and why they caught the Center’s attention – and are worthy of yours.

To receive periodic updates from the Center about the site, and promising state and local strategies to increase the availability of affordable homes, please Click Here.


Other recent Center publications in this area include:

The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local Housing Markets: Lessons from the San Francisco, Washington DC and Suburban Boston Areas (March 2008)
Released with NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy, this report helps to advance the current understanding of inclusionary zoning by taking a closer look at the impacts of programs in three metropolitan areas. The authors describe the types of communities that have adopted inclusionary zoning programs and assess the effects of these programs on affordable housing production and the price and production of market-rate housing.

Impacts of Homeownership Education and Counseling on Homebuyer Purchasing Power (November 2007)
This report (with accompanying case studies) presents preliminary evidence suggesting that high-performing homeownership education and counseling agencies may result in quantifiable benefits in the form of increased purchasing power for counseled borrowers that may substantially exceed the costs of providing the counseling.

Shared Equity, Powerful Results: Helping One Generation of Homeowners After Another (April 2007)
The Center has produced a suite of educational materials on “shared equity” – a unique approach to affordable homeownership. Under this approach, a state or local government provides funding to help a family purchase a home. In return for this investment, the government entity shares in the benefits of any home price appreciation that may occur. Homebuyers benefit from a substantially lower home price and the opportunity for significant home equity gains. Local communities benefit by retaining vital workers who otherwise couldn’t afford to live in the communities they serve. And, by ensuring that the public’s investment keeps pace with the housing market, shared equity strategies allow governments to help generations of families achieve homeownership with a single initial investment.

Private Sector Solutions for Workforce Housing: What Realtors and Their Partners Can Do (April 2006)
Prepared for the National Association of Realtors, this report also will be useful to local Chambers of Commerce or other business groups that are working to raise awareness of and advocate for workforce housing in their communities.

Silent Mortgages—A Critical Tool for Helping Families Rebuild Homes Damaged or Destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, or Wilma (January 2006)
In response to the devastation caused by hurricanes in the Fall of 2005, this policy brief suggests issuing “silent mortgages” as an effective, innovative and low-cost option for helping families repair and rebuild damaged or destroyed homes.

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