Reports
The reports below highlight innovations in housing affordability that are making a significant industry impact. Read on for our insights and to learn how you can put housing innovation into practice in your community.
The Case for Innovation in Housing
How Local Governments Can Drive Solutions
Innovation is transforming how we build, finance, and expand access to affordable housing every day, unlocking new opportunities for both homebuyers and renters alike. To elevate and expand the reach of new solutions, Enterprise Community Partners and the Wells Fargo Foundation, Ivory Innovations, and Terner Labs each operate opportunities to inspire, accelerate, and scale housing innovation: the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability, and The Housing Venture Lab.
This white paper features nine case studies that illustrate how local governments can create and foster environments conducive to housing innovation. It advocates for tailored strategies and frameworks that align with the unique needs and aspirations of communities across the United States.
Each case study relates to one of three themes, demonstrating how local governments and policymakers can champion innovation in these critical areas:
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Wealth justice and access to homeownership
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Housing supply creation through industrialized construction
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Overcoming systemic barriers to preventing and ending homelessness
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Collectively, the innovations featured demonstrate how effective governance can drive innovation and positive outcomes in local housing systems.
Ivory Innovations 5-Year Report
Ivory Innovations has acted on its mission to catalyze innovation in housing affordability by identifying and supporting over 120 of the most promising housing solutions in North America. This report details research findings about the United States housing market and its affordability challenges. The report also highlights key questions about how to tackle these issues and highlights the organizations we have championed who are making big strides on these issues.
The solutions highlighted in this report illustrate the breadth and depth of opportunity for new ideas and bold entrepreneurs to address the housing crisis. While we have identified some wonderful solutions, more are needed to address the full scale and scope of this growing challenge. Housing affordability, accessibility, and attainability are critical to our nation’s future. There is incredible potential for bold, innovative ideas and entrepreneurs to make an impact in this industry and for the country. Whether in construction and design, finance, or policy and regulatory reform, there are innovators striving to make change in every part of the housing market. Yet the scale of the issues we face means existing solutions are only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much untapped opportunity to make a difference in this space.
Our mission at Ivory Innovations and with the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability is to catalyze innovation in housing affordability. We hope you will join us on this journey.
Equitable Affordable Housing in the Digital Age
8 ingredients for leveraging technology to enhance access
The current system for finding affordable housing in the U.S. is broken (and in many cases, doesn’t exist). For families and individuals that can afford market rent, platforms like Zillow and Trulia facilitate the housing search process. However, subsidized “capital A affordable” units are typically not included on these sites, meaning low income renters are left to navigate multiple government and property-specific websites. How can we use technology to enhance and streamline access to affordable housing?
This report – a collaboration between Ivory Innovations, Exygy, and Housing Navigator Massachusetts – details the lessons learned in building affordable housing search platforms. The report lays out eight “ingredients for success” for how government, technology, and nonprofit leaders can utilize technology to make the search for affordable housing easier and more transparent, with a focus on user experience, stakeholder engagement, racial equity, and data quality.
Innovative Solutions for the Housing Crisis
Six pathways to making housing more affordable and available from the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability
The Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability was the first award of its kind in the country. The Prize has given our team unique insights on the state of housing innovation and the ability of innovative solutions to inspire new approaches to solving the nation’s housing crisis. Read more about our perspective on housing innovation in the Stanford Social Impact Review.