Shelterforce

Shelterforce

Shelterforce is nonprofit news publication that covers affordable housing in the U.S., as well as community planning, racial equity, community development, and more. Here you can listen to authors read their latest Shelterforce articles, as well as our interviews with folks on the ground. For more, go to shelterforce.org. To support our nonprofit newsroom, make a tax-deductible donation at https://shelterforce.org/donate.

Episodes

What Does It Mean When Anchor CDCs Start Selling Affordable Housing?

February 20, 2026 • 21 mins
Portland’s REACH CDC recently offloaded a 23-unit legacy building and 66 scattered-site homes—not because the mission has changed, but because the math has. The industry veteran’s portfolio triage offers a bellwether look at how rising costs, rent arrears, and aging properties are forcing even well-run nonprofits to rethink what they can afford to own. Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce....
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Fit to Live in: From Ordinances to Outcomes in Habitability, a Shelterforce webinar

February 19, 2026 • 84 mins
What makes a home habitable? What makes habitability laws successful? Listen to, "Fit to Live in: From Ordinances to Outcomes in Habitability," a webinar featuring Lara Heard, Shelterforce's associate editor; Matt Kreis, general counsel at the Center for Community Progress; and Y. Frank Southall, organizing and community engagement manager at Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative. You can also watch the webinar here: ...
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Can Condo Conversions Deliver Long-Term Affordability?

February 14, 2026 • 20 mins
A project in Portland, Oregon, aims to turn aging rentals into affordable condos, offering lower price points and a path to ownership. But that affordability currently rests on temporary subsidies and market goodwill. For tenants who can’t buy—and future buyers looking for affordability—the risks are significant. Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/02/06/can-condo-conversions-del...
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Program Mismatches Keep Repair Funds Unused

February 9, 2026 • 8 mins
A Massachusetts initiative uncovers how fragmented programs make healthy homes harder to achieve. Listen to "Program Mismatches Keep Repair Funds Unused," by Elana Brochin, the director of health equity at the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. This audio story is read by John Ludas. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/12/04/program-mismatches-keep-repair-funds-unused/ ℗ Music by Com...
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Portland's Mayor Went All in on Overnight-Only Shelters. Homelessness Is Still Rising

February 7, 2026 • 22 mins
Ending unsheltered homelessness was a major campaign promise for the current mayor of Portland, Oregon. Homelessness service providers in the area say he chose methods that don't work. Wesley Vaughan reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/27/portlands-mayor-went-all-in-on-overnight-only-shelters-homelessness-is-still-risin/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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When Rent Rises, So Does Minimum Wage: A New Model in Santa Fe

February 6, 2026 • 13 mins
The city’s new formula will blend inflation and HUD's Fair Market Rent to determine the minimum wage. Housing advocates believe it’s a replicable approach for other cities. Shelterforce's Frances Nguyen reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/02/04/when-rent-rises-so-does-minimum-wage-a-new-model-in-santa-fe/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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More Upstate Towns Opt In to—and Toughen—New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law

February 5, 2026 • 8 mins
By adjusting rent thresholds and shrinking landlord exemptions, more than a dozen municipalities have adopted stronger versions of a state law that protects tenants from high rent increases and unreasonable evictions. Frances Nguyen, Shelterforce's housing fellow, reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/29/more-upstate-towns-opt-in-to-and-toughen-new-yorks-good-cause-eviction-law/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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HUD Scolds Boston and Minneapolis for Doing What It Says It Wants Done

February 4, 2026 • 7 mins
Investigations into the fair housing practices of two US cities directly contradict race-neutral guidance from the Supreme Court. Cities must continue this work, says Thomas Silverstein, president and executive director of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. Read Silverstein's op-ed at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/30/hud-scolds-boston-and-minneapolis-for-doing-what-it-says-it-wants-done/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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Explainer: What Is TOPA?

January 30, 2026 • 3 mins
A tenant opportunity to purchase act, or TOPA, is a policy that gives tenants some specific rights when their building goes up for sale. Learn what it covers and what it doesn’t in this explainer. Watch the video at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/01/what-is-topa/
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Scattered Homes, Shared Landlords: The Changing Landscape of Tenant Organizing

January 29, 2026 • 17 mins
As the single-family rental market grows, tenant organizers are adapting their tactics to a housing landscape that stretches across neighborhoods—with no shared spaces, and often, no clear landlord. Shelterforce's Frances Nguyen reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/22/scattered-homes-shared-landlords-the-changing-landscape-of-tenant-organizing-in-single-family-rentals/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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What We Can Learn From Cambridge's Public Housing Overhaul

January 28, 2026 • 20 mins
In Cambridge, Mass., residents speak positively of the renovations to their public housing stock. The housing authority attributes its success to an innovative mix of RAD with other funding sources. Shelterforce's Sandra Larson reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/12/10/what-we-can-learn-from-cambridges-public-housing-overhaul/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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What Happened to ‘Renter’s Choice’ Legislation?

January 17, 2026 • 8 mins
Years ago, officials in dozens of cities and states showed interest in passing legislation that required landlords to accept alternatives to the traditional lump-sum security deposit. Today, much of that momentum has diminished. Shelterforce's Frances Nguyen reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/12/19/what-happened-to-renters-choice-legislation/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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New National Collaborative Links Local Housing Justice Efforts

January 16, 2026 • 16 mins
Bridge to Power aims to boost partner organizations’ capacity, information exchange, and agency. Sandra Larson reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/01/09/new-national-collaborative-links-local-housing-justice-efforts/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio
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Lessons for Washington from Three Mayors Whose Housing Strategies Won Them Second Terms

January 9, 2026 • 7 mins
Baltimore, Boston, and Cleveland voters recently showed what happens when leaders loosen zoning and modernize permitting, while investing in community-scale development at the same time. Federal policymakers should take notes, says Antonio White. White is founder of 480 Advisors, and was previously a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the former chief of communications and congressional affairs f...
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What Makes a Habitable Rental Home?

January 5, 2026 • 2 mins
Almost every state in the U.S. requires that landlords maintain safe and livable residential units. This is often called a "warranty of habitability." In some places, there are laws that specify exactly what those requirements are; in others, the standards are less defined. Read by author Lara Heard. ℗ Music by ComaStudio.
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The House on Chestnut Street: NJ’s Tenant Activists in the ’70s

December 22, 2025 • 11 mins
In the memoir Staking Our Claim, Pat Morrissy talks about the early days of Shelterforce, organizing for rent control laws in NJ towns, and supporting tenant leaders in their fights for better homes. Anthony Schuman, professor of architecture at NJIT, reads his review of Staking Our Claim. Read the full review at https://shelterforce.org/2025/12/05/the-house-on-chestnut-street-njs-tenant-activists-in-the-70s/ ℗ Music by ComaStudi...
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Harnessing the Shock of Disaster to Propel Change

December 3, 2025 • 13 mins
Sometimes disasters open a space for bigger and faster positive change. In Lahaina, Hawai'i, after the devastating fires in 2023, community leaders built on preexisting relationships to approach housing and land in new ways. Autumn Ness, the executive director of the Lahaina Community Land Trust, explains. Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/08/harnessing-the-shock-of-disaster-to-propel-change/ ℗ Music by ComaStudi...
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Beyond Basic Health Standards: Designing for Well-being

November 26, 2025 • 13 mins
Ross Chapin, an architect, provides a guide to affordable housing design that goes beyond the baseline. This piece appears in Shelterforce's new series—Fit to Live In: Fixing Our Housing Stock—and is read by Lara Heard. You can read it at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/25/beyond-basic-health-standards-designing-for-well-being/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio.
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Healthy Homes or Hollow Promises in New Orleans?

November 25, 2025 • 18 mins
The Healthy Homes Ordinance is supposed to help fix New Orleans’s deteriorating rental housing stock. But three years in, many “certified habitable” apartments still have leaking roofs, black mold, and dangerous heat. What went wrong? Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/24/healthy-homes-or-hollow-promises-in-new-orleans/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio.
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Why Habitability Is a Growing Rallying Cry

November 21, 2025 • 18 mins
Across the country, tenants and lawmakers are pushing for better standards around mold, cooling, and more. How did we get here? Franklin Schneider reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/18/why-habitability-is-a-growing-rallying-cry/ ℗ Music by ComaStudio.
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