Leveraging Public Land to Expand Housing Supply: Lessons from the Field

We all need a safe, stable place to call home.  But affordable homes are in short supply.  The nation’s housing supply is short millions of housing units and for people with the lowest income, the supply is even lower with a shortage of 7.3 M homes affordable to people with the lowest incomes.  The cost of buildable land is a key barrier to creating new homes in many communities. Federal, state and local governments have mechanisms for accessing surplus land, to address the high cost of land acquisition for affordable housing. While these mechanisms can unlock new development opportunities, disposition processes are often misaligned with many of the funding sources used to create affordable housing and may include additional use restrictions and land covenants. Without intentional collaboration across government, funding and development partners, the realities that surround the use of “free” or reduced cost land can increase the cost and delivery time of new homes. The mission driven affordable housing providers that make up Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) have partnered with local governments and public agencies across the country to expand the supply of housing for decades. As more and more public partners seek to use available tools to expand housing supply, SAHF members have offered case studies that illustrate policies, transaction structures and alignments that can help increase the number of affordable home and create healthier, more equitable communities.  

Cedar Crossing Case Study 

North Seattle, Wash., faces a challenge familiar to many communities nationwide: A lack of buildable land for housing. However, public-private partnerships can help overcome this obstacle. Bellwether Housing and SAHF member Mercy Housing worked with the transit authority and local government agencies to produce 254 new affordable homes in North Seattle. Read this case study to see how they did it. 

 Cedar Crossing Case Study

Salem Village Case Study 

Land banks can help developers and local governments finance affordable housing projects. SAHF member National Church Residences used land banked property in Columbus, Ohio to build a 76-unit apartment community that’s affordable for seniors and paired with services and broader community investment. Learn about how this strategy works in this case study.   

Salem Village Case Study

SAHF thanks JPMorgan Chase & Co. for its generous support. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the views and opinions expressed in these resources are solely those of SAHF and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of JPMorgan Chase & Co or its affiliates.