Build a Housing Strategy

The resources on Local Housing Solutions are organized under six verbs. Each of these sections corresponds to a different step in the process of developing and implementing a local housing strategy. While the order of the sections (from top to bottom) roughly approximates the sequence of steps in developing a local housing strategy, these sections can be viewed in any order.

Plan

Contains briefs on how to establish a process for developing a local housing strategy, including an explanation of what a local housing strategy is and how to develop one, principles for effective community engagement, and guidance on how to obtain input from a full range of local agencies.

Analyze

Contains tools and briefs on using data to prioritize and tailor local housing policies to address your community’s needs.

Act

Contains the Housing Policy Library, with detailed information on dozens of local housing policies, and the Housing Strategy Self-Assessment, a tool to identify strengths and gaps in your local housing strategy. The policies are organized based on our Housing Policy Framework.

Fund

Identifies possible funding sources for affordable housing, and describes the critical role that locally-generated revenue plays in supplementing federal resources.

Refine

Identifies trade-offs to consider when designing local housing policies and deciding how to allocate resources among competing priorities. Topics addressed include how to allocate resources between tenant-based and project-based rental assistance, how to balance the goals of promoting homeownership and increasing the availability of affordable rental housing, and whether and when to prioritize the preservation of existing affordable housing for new construction.

Bridge

Contains briefs that describes why housing matters for a variety of outcomes such as health, education, and the environment, as well as resources on how to broaden the base of support for affordable housing to build strong coalitions.

Local Housing Solutions

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