New Visions for Social Housing in the US
The chronic and broadening nature of the housing affordability crisis has fostered a renewed interest across the country in looking for new models of affordable housing, generally referred to as social housing–a term that is widely used and poorly defined. The current trend echoes earlier movements to build a broader housing sector that is shielded from market forces, often inspired by European approaches. Such a movement at the start of the 20th century ultimately produced the public housing program that emerged in the 1930s and was the principal form of assisted rental housing through the 1960s. The calls for a new form of social housing in the US have flourished over the last five years, emerging from advocacy organizations and think tanks, new approaches by local housing authorities, as well as legislative proposals at the state and federal levels. While these proposals differ in their defining elements, most proposals are grounded in a supply of housing that is permanently affordable, includes important elements of resident governance or control, and serves a racially and economically diverse population.
Drawing from this growing movement, students in this course will learn about the rationale for a new or expanded social housing sector; investigate alternative formulations of social housing through the examination of social housing models from other countries and proposals and pilots in the US; assess the current landscape of public, nonprofit and private organizations in the US and their capacity for taking on new roles that could form the foundation of a new form of social housing; and engage with public, nonprofit, and for-profit representatives to help inform the development of a proposal for policies that would support the expansion of social housing in the US.
The class will often feature guests with experience in each of the domains identified above, including experts in international social housing models, defining and developing proposals and pilot programs for social housing in the US, current public and nonprofit housing providers, and policy makers and advocates who are leading efforts to introduce social legislation across the country.
The course will have students develop a proposal for a new (or re-invigorated) form of social housing in the US in response to the persistent and growing housing affordability challenges. Students will choose the level of government for their proposal (federal, state, or local). The precise definition of social housing will be developed as part of the students’ proposals but is expected to have a foundation in the notion of housing that is owned by public or nonprofit organizations that is permanent affordability and has a strong element of resident control.
Students will work individually or in small groups to develop a proposed model for a new form of social housing. The proposals will provide a definition and rationale for social housing, specify the role for different public, nonprofit and for profit organizations in the new model, identify the public resources that would be required to support the sector (e.g., sources of development capital, land for siting housing, support for operating costs of both social housing organizations and their housing developments, and technical assistance to support the field), and the form of governance and oversight of the social housing organizations.