Library of Reports and Resources
The following reports are available for download as Acrobat PDF files:
DIG Metafinance: A Survey Report, December 2007
Melanie Walker of the Gates Foundation and Franck Daphnis of Development Innovations Group (DIG) have dubbed as meta-finance the emergence of new capital forms that finance group-level improvements. Their working definition is:
Metafinance pools individual cash flows to secure previously inaccessible high value loans that provide community rather than individual benefit. Metafinance loans are larger and of longer tenor than traditional microfinance group loans. Items of communal benefit such as potable water pipes, wells, latrines, street paving, drainage ditches, and electrical connections would be ideal candidates for metafinance.(The definition is from a forthcoming paper on the topic, to be authored by Daphnis and Walker.)
AHI's report – commissioned by DIG as part of DIG's Housing Finance for the Poor Initiative with the Gates Foundation – views metafinance as it is emerging in India through two entities: Mahila Housing SEWA Trust in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), and the National Slum Dwellers Federation in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
Placemaking: Incentivizing urban regeneration and renewal, Lessons from the US
This brief paper represents the prepared text for a talk David Smith gave in London at a 100-person symposium convened at 11 Downing Street, official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Hugh Stretton Award 2005: South Australian Home Ownership Affordability Constraints & USA Affordable Home Ownership Initiatives for Low-Income Households
This report is a review of US homeownership initiatives in the context of providing insight into potential programs in South Australia. Report by Jarrod Gitsham.
Housing the World's Poor: The Four Essential Roles of Government
The article addresses the growing problem of urban slums, tracking examples from around the world. Slums are a reflection not of market failure but of societal failure, and the article details what governments can and should be doing about them. Article by David A. Smith appears in Harvard International Review.
Housing Policy Innovation Through Effective Experimentation
Why are piloting and experimentation in affordable housing often haphazard and what can we learn from housing pilot programs used, consciously or not, throughout the US? Two primary questions regarding affordable housing pilot programs form the focus of this PAE: 1) When is an experimental approach appropriate? What are the conditions that signal it is appropriate? 2) Assuming the decision to create a pilot or demonstration program has been made, what factors contribute to its success and what to its failure? Policy Analysis Exercise by Oliver Faltin-Traeger, for Master in Public Policy, JFK School of Government
"Fusion" countries: the best target for affordable housing initiatives?
Programmatic or policy initiatives to improve the quality of affordable housingwork only if they are customized to the target environment. It helps, therefore,to identify countries whose environments are enough similar to make lessons learned in one such relevant to another. Today the world can be divided not into two distinctions (developed/ developing) but three: developed, developing, and fusion. For affordable housing and community development, fusion countries are arguably the place where the most benefit can be delivered, because thec hallenges are huge, but there is indigenous commitment and capacity, if it can be levered. Article by David A. Smith
The Impact of Targeted Homeownership Tax Credit Program: Evidence from Washington, D.C.
Executive Summary of a study by Zhong Yi Tong which provides the first comprehensive assessment of the targeted homeownership tax credit program as implemented in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit program is the only federal program that provides an income tax credit (up to $5,000) for targeted low/moderate-income families and individuals to purchase their first homes in a central city.
South Africa: Using Tax-Relief Incentives (TRI's) to Stimulate Affordable Housing
With commentary on the proposed Urban Regeneration Tax Initiative. This report was prepared for FinMark Trust, Ltd., by the Affordable Housing Institute. To stimulate urban regeneration and affordable housing, South Africa should make use of fiscal initiatives – specifically, custom-designed income tax incentives – to stimulate investment of private equity capital into targeted geographies, activities, and development programs.
Mark-to-Market: A Fundamental Shift in Affordable Housing Policy
In October 1997, Congress enacted the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act (MAHRA), commonly referred to as the ''mark-to-market'' legislation. This article describes the legislation's origins, major features, and properties affected and reviews the key policy issues. To illustrate the dynamics, three distinct implementation options are presented as thought experiments. This article also explores potential roles for nonprofit entities and concludes by reviewing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's recently issued regulations. Also accessible through the Fannie Mae Foundation here.
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit Effectiveness and Efficiency: A presentation of the issues
Report presented to the US Millennial Housing Commission.
Millennial Housing Commission Tax Policy Task Force Proposed Recommendations
Recommendations presented to the US Millennial Housing Commission.
Affordable Housing: Uses and Sources of Funds
Download this worksheet to identify funding sources and expenditures for your affordabe housing initiative.
Affordable Housing: The Operating Budget Simplified
Download this worksheet to analyze the necessary expenditures for affordable housing.
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The following reports are available for online viewing:
Working Out Troubled Real Estate Properties: Making Stone Soup
A solution exists for almost every troubled property--if the parties are determined to find one. Article by David A. Smith
Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act
Summary of Oral Testimony for Senate Housing Subcommittee, U.S. Senate (July 18, 2000)
The El Dorado of Permanent Sustainable Affordability
Today's affordable housing production and preservation programs set a goal of 'permanent affordability.' But though this objective is laudable--indeed, it is the right programmatic design parameter--it is unattainable. The right goal, therefore, is renewable sustainable affordability. Article by David A. Smith
Taxonomy of American affordable housing, 1937-2002
A historical look at 4 generations and 9 original cohorts. Article by David A. Smith