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'Let's Try Something New' Meets the National Housing Squeeze

Erika Bolstad

July 18, 2022 |

Stateline |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boise, Idaho

The Boise nonprofit, LEAP, builds affordable housing with innovative approaches, including using donated land held in trust and solar panels to keep utility costs low. The creative approach to land ownership and the use of alternative construction techniques and materials help more people afford homes in a fast-growing metro area.

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A Landlord ‘Underestimated' His Tenants. Now They Could Own the Building.

Ronda Kaysen

May 06, 2022 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Thanks to teamwork and the help of a Housing Development Fund Corporation Co-Op apartment tenants will be able to buy their apartments for $2,500 each. This practice helps to combat rent hikes and creates generational wealth for individuals owning their apartment.

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Raise or retreat? Home elevation aims to protect historic houses

Adrienne Mayfield

April 15, 2022 |

WAVY-TV |

Multi-Media |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Virginia

As waters continue to rise and flood homes at sea levels, some homeowners are spending thousands of dollars to raise their homes off the ground. This solution that has been tried in Charleston is expensive, but some people think it can also work in Virginia. One industry expert started the Home Raising Academy, a workforce development program, to train architects, engineers, realtors, and government officials on floodplain management, insurance, and financing for home elevations in the area.

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Philadelphia explores heirs' property solutions to boost generational wealth

David Slade

April 08, 2022 |

The Post and Courier |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Tangled Title Fund is helping qualified homeowners overcome logistical barriers that prevent them from being the clear owners of their home. Legal issues that result from unclear deeds can sabotage the benefits associated with home ownership, such as economic mobility. The initiative prevents the racial wealth gap from growing even wider by keeping generational wealth in Black families and communities.

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Community land trusts: What are they and how do they work?

Nadeen Yanes

September 20, 2021 |

WKMG-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Winter Park, Florida

To help families achieve home ownership in a volatile real estate market, the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust acquires land in Winter Park, Fla., and the surrounding area and then builds or renovates homes on the properties to sell to qualified buyers. The program allows families to purchase homes at an affordable price that is not typically available in the current market because buyers are responsible only for the cost of the house, with the land itself remaining in the trust's ownership.

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In recovering urban areas, homeownership makes all the difference

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

November 16, 2020 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Connecticut

State programs that provide assistance with down payments have a significant impact on homeownership for economically disadvantaged communities. Homeownership not only increases generational wealth, it also makes neighborhoods safer.

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0%-interest loan program puts economic power in hands of Detroit homeowners

Kate Roff

August 04, 2020 |

Model D |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Homeowners in Detroit can now access home improvement capital to fix up their historic homes, many of which date back to the early 1900s. The aid is in the form of a zero-interest loan which is paid back over 10 years. The program helps homeowners fix their homes, making them safer while removing blight from the community.

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Why Singapore Has One of the Highest Home Ownership Rates

Adam Majendie

July 08, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Affordable housing in Singapore has resulted in one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. In 1964 the government embraced a "Home Ownership for the People Scheme" in which it gave lower and middle-income citizens access to affordable home ownership. Subsidized apartments were sold at low prices and were not to be sold for at least five years after which the real estate value had risen significantly. Apartments sold in 2009, for example, gained almost half a million dollars in value by 2020. New subsidized apartments are under construction and 16,000 have already been sold in the past year.

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Banning foreign home buyers - the New Zealand experiment

Vivienne Nunis

July 15, 2019 |

BBC |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: New Zealand, Auckland

Housing affordability is a crisis that many countries face. New Zealand addressed the issue in a controversial way: by outright banning foreign ownership. Since it has come into effect, real estate pricing has gone down, and more properties are available for New Zealand residents. Critics argue that the ban coincided with world events like the Chinese government limiting how much money could leave the country into foreign events. They caution against attributing the lower prices to the ban itself and that it is still too early to see its true impact.

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How Temporary Tiny Homes Could Solve Dutch Cities' Housing Crises

Feargus O'Sullivan

November 26, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Rotterdam

While more permanent housing is built to meet demand in the Netherlands, the stopgap answer is to build “tiny homes.” Completely built in a factory, these tiny homes still provide all basic housing amenities. They will be laid out in clusters of four and in larger communities to overcome what some worry will be isolating for many people who have nowhere else to turn. As an interim solution, these tiny homes are perfect-but they aren’t built to last, so the goal is to get residents into more permanent housing.

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