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4 Radical Real Estate Ideas to Fix America’s Broken Housing System

Fast Company Mar 25, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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4 Radical Real Estate Ideas to Fix America's Broken Housing System
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• Many lower-income people experience barriers to homeownership because of methods put in place by large banks and mortgage companies.

• What are other ways we can offer access to affordable housing beside the models listed below? What are some problems that prevent access to affordable housing in your community? 

• There are many approaches to address affordable housing problems. Utilizing community support services is a widely popular strategy. 


At the core of the American housing system of today is the fundamental belief that housing should be a vehicle for private wealth creation. Privately owned housing on the market makes up 96.3% of the total housing stock in the U.S. Homeownership, once one of the surest ways for a family to accumulate wealth, has declined across the country; rates dropped to 63.4% in 2016, their lowest since 1967. Big banks and mortgage companies attach stringent criteria and high interest rates to loans that often lock lower-income people out of buying a home.

So instead, they’re forced into the rental market. As wages have stagnated and property costs have continued to rise, an astonishing number of Americans struggle to afford monthly payments. Almost half of all renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, which is the ratio the federal government deems affordable.  Homeowners aren’t any better off: Around 41% are struggling to make mortgage payments, and risking foreclosure as a result.

Right to the City Alliance, a nonprofit focused on creating equitable urban areas, and its Homes for All Campaign, which advocates for affordable, dignified housing for all, details four models of “decommodified housing” (in other words, housing that is a place to live, not an investment vehicle) that have proven, in other countries, to provide stability to families struggling to afford a place to live.

These four models follow the organizations’ Just Housing principles, which both Right to the City and Homes for All believe are necessary for creating truly affordable and dignified housing: community control, affordability, permanence, inclusivity, and health and sustainability.

  1. Limited Equity Cooperatives
  2. Community Lands Trusts
  3. Tenement Syndicates
  4. Mutual Aid Housing Cooperatives

Read more about fixing the broken housing system by Eillie Anzilotti at Fast Company

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Learning and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact on Homeless and Housing take a look at these selections from Giving Compass.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    Creating Equity and Opportunity Through Collective Action

    We are living in extraordinary times. In our region, we are seeing unprecedented economic growth, innovation and technological advances. Despite all of this progress, striking inequities impact the health, housing and economic fabric of our communities. There is growing inequity between the wealthiest and poorest people in our region, housing costs have skyrocketed, homelessness is on the rise and too many people do not have enough access to healthy food. Research shows that up to 90 percent of what determines our life expectancy is where we live, how much income we make and the color of our skin. King County is a prime example. Life expectancy can vary by as much as 10 years depending on where you live and there’s over $160,000 difference in median family incomes across the region. But the issues go beyond income and life expectancy. Inequities drive down prosperity for our whole region. We can and we must do better. The real solution involves all of us working together to have a more holistic approach to support our communities and collectively address the challenges we are facing. One way in which we are doing this is Communities of Opportunity (COO). Launched by Seattle Foundation, along with two King County Departments -- Public Health and Community and Human Services -- COO works with community residents to help shape and own solutions that will have positive impact. Communities of Opportunity means real community engagement. Instead of working alone in silos, all partners collaborate across areas of healthcare, economic opportunity and more. Community members are also part of the decision making process -- setting goals, and implementing the programs. What we are doing here is providing a national model as recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Using data to identify where we should focus our attention, we award funding to help communities to build on their strengths, strategize ways to break the cycle of poverty and produce better outcomes for children all the way into adulthood. For example, work with community members in SeaTac and Tukwila confirmed residents’ interest in starting food businesses to increase economic opportunity. One of the biggest barriers to success was a lack of affordable commercial kitchen space. With COO support, a new center will serve as the heart of business incubation, including commercial kitchen space, considered for the Matt Griffin YMCA in SeaTac. In Rainier Beach, an abandoned fish cannery was transformed into a site for food-related businesses with on-site production, packaging and distribution. And in White Center, partners have identified property for development of a community-based center with potential for affordable housing, business start-ups and other community use -- a space to further connect families in White Center to one another. What we are learning through this work can be applied across a broader area, creating ripple effects in neighborhoods throughout the county. King County Executive Dow Constantine has committed to continue the work of COO and has included funding for the program in the Best Starts for Kids plan. We have an opportunity to build stronger collaborations and strategically leverage additional resources in order to address the increasing inequities in our community. This is a significant step forward as we continue to deliver on our commitment to build a more just, equitable community. Communities of Opportunity is a powerful example of this work in action, but we cannot stop there. Seattle Foundation will continue to reach out to government, private and social sectors and align our work toward efforts that will truly move the needle and lower disparities. It’s this collective action that reflects the values we are striving for every day to make our region a stronger, more vibrant community for all.


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