Housing Solutions Lab
Helping cities plan, launch, and evaluate equitable housing policies
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Our Research and Partnerships
The Lab conducts rigorous housing policy research. We partner with cities, housing authorities, housing providers, and others to analyze the innovative work they are doing and to co-design and study new pilot programs. The Lab also supports and amplifies emerging scholarship on housing innovations in small and midsize cities.
Public Housing Authority Community of Practice
In 2023, the Housing Solutions Lab launched a Community of Practice, convening a diverse group of public housing agencies and authorities (PHAs) interested in understanding how data and research can inform their work, and in finding ways to explore and evaluate innovative practices. The Community of Practice meets quarterly and recent sessions have focused on rent arrears in public housing, voucher success rates, and direct rental assistance. To learn more, Ask the Lab.
In Summer 2024, the Lab received an award from J-PAL to launch a Direct Rental Assistance Peer Learning Cohort with a subset of housing authorities. Direct Rental Assistance (DRA) is emerging as a promising strategy to address limitations of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, the nation’s largest rental assistance program. Participating agencies will receive technical assistance, peer learning opportunities, and research and evaluation support with the aim of developing rigorous DRA pilots. Read more here.
Supporting research on housing innovation for small and midsize cities
The Housing Solutions Lab also supports external research on housing policy innovation in small and midsize cities through competitive awards, policy and methods expertise, and assistance in disseminating findings to policy audiences. Special priority is given to research on innovations that promise to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and to early-career and nontraditional scholarship.
Our research partnerships
The Lab partners with local governments and nonprofit leaders to better understand housing policies and programs through original, empirical research.
If you are interested in partnering with the Lab to integrate data collection or measure the success of your local housing policy or program, please contact Claudia Aiken, Director of New Research Partnerships, at claudia.aiken@nyu.edu.
