Urban Institute researchers evaluate federal, state, and local government programs and policies. Early on, we pioneered performance-management techniques government agencies still use to evaluate and improve public services, from economic development to garbage collection. And now we're adapting those strategies for the nonprofit sector—at home and abroad. Read more.
The recovery and long-term performance of U.S. housing markets unquestionably hinges on the availability and terms of financing. Yet, with the housing finance system currently undergoing profound changes, there are significant questions about what the future supply of mortgage finance will look like. Lending institutions are exercising extreme caution in their underwriting, and there are legitimate concerns that this tightening will go too far so that homeseekers and financers of multifamily rental housing will be starved of credit.
This What Works framing paper highlights four critical policy challenges in the area of housing finance: mortgage lending to underserved groups; financing for the evolving rental housing market; lending in distressed neighborhoods; and the role of mortgage finance in supporting environmentally sustainable housing.
This framing paper is part of a series of field-building research agendas produced under the What Works Collaborative. More information can be found on the What Works Collaborative web page
The housing needs of low-income families occur in the context of the larger private housing market, a market which has been profoundly influenced by government policies. The recent housing boom and bust has left policymakers struggling to understand and address unprecedented challenges, while longer term problems are presenting themselves on the horizon. This What Works Collaborative framing paper focuses on four pressing housing policy challenges and the research needed to address them: the long-term damage stemming from the housing crisis; rising poverty coupled with high income inequality and volatility; persistent concentration of poor and minority households in low-quality housing and low-opportunity neighborhoods; and the need for environmentally sustainable buildings and communities.
This framing paper is part of a series of field-building research agendas produced under the What Works Collaborative. More information can be found on the What Works Collaborative web page
Increasingly, researchers and practitioners recognize the need for neighborhood revitalization policies that improve conditions in neighborhoods where low-income and minority households are concentrated. Although there is a rich literature describing past efforts to revitalize distressed neighborhoods, this literature provides little concrete guidance for today’s policymakers. This What Works framing paper focuses on basic neighborhood improvement strategies and the specific mechanisms at work that provide “levers” for revitalization. The paper lays out strategies for neighborhood revitalization focusing on strengthening community-level and city-wide institutions to support and reinforce success, and regional strategies for equitable housing and community development.
This framing paper is part of a series of field-building research agendas produced under the What Works Collaborative. More information can be found on the What Works Collaborative web page
Fragile households seeking solid footing in a weak economy will receive reinvigorated support as Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and South Carolina take up the challenge of streamlining services aiding low-income working families. The six states have been awarded three-year grants to test and implement easy-to-navigate, quick-to-deliver public benefit systems. The grants, the centerpiece of the Work Support Strategies: Streamlining Access, Strengthening Families (WSS) initiative, average about $460,000 per state for each year.
There are two worlds of personal finance: mainstream vs. low-income personal finance. The former focuses on savings and investment, the latter (for those with low or moderate incomes) on asset building and benefits, such as Social Security. Current pension and housing subsidies are weighted toward higher-income people, and may even discourage saving among the less well off. Many low- and middle-income households do not receive financial advice on when to retire, how to arrange Social Security benefits, and homeownership, despite these being their most important retirement decisions.
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Urban Institute researchers evaluate federal, state, and local government programs and policies. Early on, we pioneered performance-management techniques government agencies still use to evaluate and improve public services, from economic development to garbage collection. And now we're adapting those strategies for the nonprofit sector—at home and abroad. 