2.0 Policy Package

Affordable Housing Trusts

Having a home is foundational to living a healthy, full life. But across the U.S., affordable housing shortages persist, rates of homelessness continue to rise, and more people are at risk of eviction. 

Affordable Housing Trusts policies are a community-driven way for cities to invest in building and maintaining affordable housing for everyone. They can also make our communities more inclusive by ensuring all people — no matter their income — have access to affordable housing.

The Affordable Housing Challenge

  • Today, one in four renters, or 10.9 million people, spend more than 50% of their income on housing.
  • More than 500,000 people experience homelessness on any given night.
  • According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, 7.2 million more affordable housing units are needed for extremely low-income people.
  • Poor health outcomes associated with housing costs, quality, stability, and neighborhood context are much more likely to affect people of color as well as low-income and vulnerable populations.

A Healthy Solution: Affordable Housing Trusts

  • Promotes Inclusion – Affordable Housing Trusts can help our communities be more inclusive by serving groups that experience the poorest health outcomes due to housing instability, cost, or quality.
  • Reduces Household Energy Use – Affordable Housing Trusts can help households reduce energy use for heating and substantially reduce household contributions to climate impacts and pollution.
  • Leverages Outside Investments – Affordable Housing Trusts are a community-driven way to invest revenue to meet a variety of community needs. Local housing trusts have also been highly effective in leveraging additional funding, with some cities multiplying funds by more than 18 times for affordable housing.

CityHealth partners with Enterprise Community Partners in support of this policy.

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The state of affordable housing trust policies in big US cities

44 out of 75 cities received a medal for affordable housing trust policies, including 19 golds, 10 silver, and 15 bronze.

Measuring cities’ Affordable Housing Trusts policies

How will we award affordable housing trusts medals?Bronze medalBronze MedalSilver medalSilver MedalGold medalGold Medal
City has established an affordable housing trust fund.Required for this MedalRequired for this MedalRequired for this Medal
City policy includes a multi-stakeholder oversight board.Required for this MedalRequired for this MedalRequired for this Medal
City policy identifies or establishes a dedicated revenue source to fund the trust.Not Required for this MedalRequired for this MedalRequired for this Medal
City policy identifies or establishes a dedicated, recurring revenue source to fund the trust.Not Required for this MedalNot Required for this MedalRequired for this Medal
City policy references affordability levels.Not Required for this MedalNot Required for this MedalRequired for this Medal
City policy requires regular evaluation and public reporting on how trust funds have been spent.Not Required for this MedalNot Required for this MedalRequired for this Medal

Cities with Affordable Housing Trust Laws

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