Solving America’s affordable housing crisis will mean increasing production of housing, protecting residents from eviction and foreclosure, and preventing the loss of current affordable housing stock. For households unable to obtain housing benefits, unsubsidized “naturally occurring” rental housing provides the bulk of affordable housing in many markets. In the fall of 2018 Urban Institute conducted a series of interviews with staff from Community Investment Corporation (CIC), a community development financial institution (CDFI) in Chicago, the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development and non-profit firm, Elevate Energy. Based on these interviews, we present several strategies to preserve unsubsidized housing stock that are present as aspects in the CIC programs studied. These are proactive program development, responsiveness to local conditions, pursuit and leveraging of partnerships, and strategic use of federal, state, and local policy levers.
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