History
Founded in 2002 by David Smith, the founder and President of Recap Advisors, AHI is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) consultancy.
AHI was built on experience in US affordable housing with the use of public-private partnership model for affordable housing. AHI was founded in the belief that the public-private model produces better affordable housing outcomes than either a pure private or pure public approach. US experience in affordable housing provides many lessons of what to do and what not to do; but it does not provide a blueprint for success which can simply be copied elsewhere. The key lesson of the US experience is that details like place, timing, and community matter.
Because of his experience handling transactions which preserve affordable housing through innovative legal and financial structuring, David Smith has often been called on to give input and testimony in US housing circles. In 2002, however, a request came from the UK to support the development of a new approach to housing finance there. This led to his decision to create and provide seed funding for AHI as a broader vehicle to engage in the international housing policy arena.