Shelterforce

Despite Enterprise Community Partners’ majority voting stake in Bellwether Enterprise, the nonprofit lender long insisted it couldn’t address its subsidiary commercial mortgage lender’s questionable lending for mobile home park purchases. Shelby King reports. Read the full story at

After a years-long, tenant-led effort, Louisville will use a new tool to analyze whether a proposed housing development can meet a neighborhood’s housing needs and income levels. If it doesn’t, the city won’t subsidize it. Listen to "‘Anti-Displacement Tool’ to Direct City Funding to Projects that Won’t Price Out Residents," in Shelterforce. Reporting by Roshan Abraham Read by John Ludas Check out...

Dan Immergluck reviews Brian Goldstone’s upcoming book, "There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America." Immergluck is a professor of urban studies and public policy at Georgia State University. His research and policy work concerns affordable housing, community development, segregation and gentrification, and urban political economy. Read the full review at https://shelterforce.org/20...

Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here? Shelby R. King reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/03/04/manufactured-crisis-losing-the-nations-largest-source-of-unsubsidized-affordable-housing/

More than $3 billion in funding was awarded to programs that help unhoused people. That money was supposed to start rolling out in January, but nonprofit leaders tell us they haven't received anything yet—putting critical homelessness services at risk. What's going on? Listen to, "HUD Staff Cuts and Grant Delays Endanger Homelessness Services." Reporting by Roshan Abraham; read by John Ludas. Read...

A lease agreement with the city of Sacramento allowed encampment residents to stay indefinitely while they sought permanent housing. When the agreement fell apart, the residents, many of whom are disabled, say they were left without an accessible place to go. Reporting by Roshan Abraham Read by John Ludas Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/31/encampment-residents-thought-theyd-foun...

Decades of increasing costs and deferred maintenance could lead to people losing their homes, unless changes are made. Karen Black explains more in, "Condos—a Key Source of Affordable Housing for Homeowners—Are in Jeopardy."

More and more cities and states have plans to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in housing. Here's how we can avoid possible harms to renters. Chelsea Kirk—a tenant organizer, researcher, and policy advocate in Los Angeles—explains why. Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2025/02/07/we-need-a-plan-for-decarbonization-that-doesnt-displace-renters/

The president pushed for sweeping crackdowns and the possible internment of people experiencing homelessness. To see what's coming, we should look to what states have already done. Listen to, "Trump Wants to Force Homeless People into ‘Tent Cities.’ Can He?," read by John Ludas. Reporting by Roshan Abraham. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/02/14/trump-wants-to-force-homeless-people-...

The president's executive orders threaten the funding of a wide range of housing programs in the U.S. Over a dozen federal grantees told us how they've been affected, and how they're planning for an uncertain future. Miriam Axel-Lute and Lara heard report: "What Trump’s DEI Orders Could Mean for Housing." Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/02/21/what-trumps-dei-orders-could-mean-...

The Ebony Beach Club was supposed to open in the 1950s, but the city used eminent domain to seize the site. Los Angeles artist Autumn Breon chats with Shelterforce's Lara Heard about how the story inspired her multidisciplinary art event and why she's inspired by the history of Black leisure sites. See photos from the event and more at https://shelterforce.org/2025/02/12/art-exploring-black-leisur...

We don’t often make a clear distinction between investors and speculators, which makes it harder to identify harmful behavior—and to find solutions for it. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute explains. Read more at https://shelterforce.org/2025/02/05/whats-in-a-name-investors-vs-speculators/

The day after a judge put a temporary block on a federal funding freeze, the administration rescinded the memo that started it all. Here's why mixed messaging has left advocates confused--and housing funds in jeopardy. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/29/federal-funding-freeze-memo-rescinded-but-were-not-out-of-the-woods-yet/

Many affordable housing developers worry Trump’s proposed taxes on imports and crackdown on immigration will be detrimental to the industry. Others hope deregulation reduces development costs enough to offset those effects. What’s the most likely outcome? Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the full article at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/24/how-might-tariffs-and-deportations-affect-af...

Los Angeles has imposed an additional tax on luxury home sales to generate millions for housing efforts in the city. Shelterforce's Lara Heard checks in on where the money has gone, and what’s to come. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/17/what-has-measure-ula-done-so-far/

For such a commonly used term, “affordable housing” means a lot of different things to different people and in different contexts. Shelterforce Miriam Axel-Lute explains. Read the full story with additional resources at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/23/what-is-affordable-housing/

Advocates are looking for common ground to work with the new administration, but are also prepared to defend critical policies and programs that could come under attack. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/17/how-housing-and-community-development-advocates-are-preparing-for-trump/

Kansas City tenants launched a rent strike in October. With a new administration coming into office, it might be too late for a federal rent cap—but they're still pushing for better conditions. Roshan Abraham reads his latest story, "Time’s Running Out. Striking Kansas City Tenants Want the Government to Act." Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/01/09/times-running-out-striking-ka...

The incoming administration’s plans could include proposing harmful housing rules and taking apart HUD. What specific changes have been hinted at and how easily might they be accomplished? Listen as Lara Heard reports: How Fast Could the Trump Administration Make HUD and Fair Housing Changes? This article was written by Heard and Lillian Ortiz. Read the full piece at https://shelterforce.org/2024/...

Affordable housing and neighborhood investment programs are closely tied to banking and the Treasury Department. What is the incoming administration’s attitude toward some key financial regulations, and how easy would it be for them to enact changes? Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reads her latest piece, "How Fast Could Financial Regulations, Treasury Programs Change Once Trump Takes Office?" Rea...

Insurance carriers have dramatically raised premiums or even canceled policies on affordable housing providers, according to survey results. Frances Nguyen reads her latest Shelterforce article, "Survey Says: Rising Insurance Prices and Dropped Policies Threaten Community Development Work." Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2024/12/19/survey-says-rising-insurance-prices-and-dropped-polici...

Our original reporting about dangerous proposals, property insurance woes, and other threats to affordable housing (and what we can do about them) were some of our most-read stories of the year. Read the stories at https://shelterforce.org/2024/12/13/shelterforces-top-10-stories-of-2024/

In a world where educational justice and housing justice movements too often seem separated, Akira Drake Rodriguez’s research connects them. Currently an assistant professor of city planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design, Rodriguez is also the author of Diverging Space for Deviants: The Politics of Atlanta’s Public Housing, which explores resistance in that city’s p...

Since 2022, all new units within the Houston Land Bank must be built to meet its accessibility standards. The organization says it's able to do so while turning a profit. Roshan Abraham reports, "Why This Land Bank Builds Accessibly." Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2024/11/15/why-this-land-bank-builds-accessibly/

A common refrain heard by locals opposed to new housing developments is that area schools can’t absorb the increase in students they’ll bring. As the nation approaches an “enrollment cliff,” the data tells a different story. Shelby R. King reads her latest story for Shelterforce, "Fact Check: New Housing Doesn’t Lead to Overcrowded Schools." Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2024/12/03/fa...