The NYU Furman Center and Abt Associates launched LocalHousingSolutions.org, an online, interactive tool to help communities develop local strategies that promote housing affordability. A growing number of communities across the country are struggling with problems tied to high housing costs, including rising homelessness, fear of displacement among longtime residents, and growing numbers of households unable to afford their rents or mortgages. LocalHousingSolutions.org provides policymakers and practitioners, housing advocates, developers, and concerned community members with a single source of guidance via a library of more than 80 policies to preserve and strengthen affordability and address a range of other housing objectives. The site will be particularly useful for cities, towns, and counties seeking to develop and implement comprehensive and balanced local housing strategies that tackle high housing costs.
LocalHousingSolutions.org allows stakeholders to assess a community’s current housing needs and policy goals. An online questionnaire generates recommendations from the site’s extensive Policy Library. Policy guidance is organized around a four-pronged framework that includes policies for creating and preserving dedicated affordable housing and for removing barriers to the creation of additional market-rate housing – two complementary ways to increase the supply of affordable housing. The framework also provides strategies to help households afford and access private market homes, both in the rental and homeownership markets. These efforts can relieve the intense competition for a limited supply of subsidized units, and help to address historic patterns of segregation. Finally, the site offers policies to protect against displacement and improve housing conditions, critical elements of a fair and effective housing strategy.
