Your Attainable Housing Toolkit
Last year, we welcomed designers, developers, builders, nonprofits, and municipal representatives to join us in an honest and engaging dialogue exploring innovative solutions for attainable housing. This was an incredible opportunity to exchange ideas and collaboratively develop a toolkit for achieving real results for this complex and relevant topic facing our communities.
What is Attainable Housing?
Attainable housing is generally market-rate and historically achievable for those earning between 80% and 120% of Area Median Income (AMI) as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The intent is for households to spend (via rental or ownership) around 30% of their income on housing costs. While attainable housing is not directly subsidized or deed restricted, by distinguishing it from affordable housing, government intervention may still encourage the housing supply through incentives, development regulations, or housing ordinances.
What Were the Key Takeaways?
During our roundtable, we discussed common pain points, opportunities, and an aspirational vision of the future in 5, 10, and even 20+ years from now. Each representative came prepared with the challenges they face in their respective fields, opening the door for shared ideas and experiences. Working together, we established five key takeaways to summarize the day:
- Strategic Partnerships – Establishing strategic partnerships between municipalities, corporations, and private developers is a powerful tool.
- Key Financial Structures – Reducing development and building costs by using alternative funding strategies such as subsidies, incentives, and consideration for alternative sales and rental models which play a role in making housing attainable.
- Innovative Design – Designing for attainable housing that focuses on integration, flexibility, and nontraditional family structures that foster broader social connectivity to build resilient communities.
- Education + Communication – Tackling misconceptions and educating community members is paramount to the success of attainable housing.
- Streamline Regulations – Establishing consistency in the regulatory process and clarifying expectations, provides reliability for expected outcomes while reducing risk and financial exposure for all parties involved.
💡 Looking toward the future where attainability is no longer the goal, it’s an option.
What’s Next?
Homeownership and rental housing is more challenging than ever. While strides are being made to achieve attainability, there is more to be explored. Our cities and towns are seeking desirable homes with a sense of place, pride, and community. What resources can be used for designers, developers, and the public sector for successful attainable housing?
We are excited to announce that we have compiled these key takeaways and solutions into a downloadable toolkit. Within Innovative Solutions for Attainable Housing, we discuss these key takeaways and ways where we can collaborate and partner with designers, developers, builders, and municipalities to bring more attainable housing to the market. You’ll gain valuable insights into the building blocks that we established, and we encourage you to deploy this toolkit in your respective field.
It is up to us as industry experts, innovative guides, and community leaders to create a model for change. Our cities and towns are seeking access to desirable homes where one can strive, have a sense of place, pride, and community. Let’s INNOVATE to ELEVATE together on how to bring attainable housing solutions to our neighborhoods.
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