HAI Group is a leading sponsor of the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC), a nonprofit that researches the impact that affordable homes bring to families and communities. In this guest blog, Kelly McElwain, PAHRC’s industry intelligence and research manager, explains how a recent federal program can be leveraged to address housing needs.

Despite an estimated shortage of 7.3 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income families, public housing authorities (PHAs) nationwide have not received congressional funding to build new deeply affordable housing in their communities in decades. PHAs’ hands became even more tied after Congress passed the Faircloth Amendment, which capped PHA public housing stock at the number of public housing units they operated as of October 1, 1999 (known as their ‘Faircloth Authority’). This created a de facto ban on building new public housing.

At a time when a decent, safe, and affordable place to call home is out of reach for more than 15 million Americans, the preservation of affordable housing is more important than ever. For over a decade, the Public and Affordable Housing Research Organization (PAHRC) has been on a mission to help improve this statistic by providing data, research, and tools to help policymakers, housing providers, researchers, advocates, and other stakeholders raise awareness about this critical issue, and ultimately impact change.

In addition to partnering with some big names in the industry, PAHRC has a longstanding relationship with the affordable housing insurance carrier HAI Group, which has been a key sponsor of PAHRC since its inception in 2012. Both organizations share the same goal of supporting the affordable housing industry through various avenues. Over the years, HAI Group’s financial support has made numerous initiatives possible, from webinar opportunities to obtaining data for PAHRC’s annual Housing Impact Report, and most notably, developing the National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD).

HAI Group’s Staci Canny sat down with Kelly McElwain, a lead research analyst at PAHRC, to discuss her work.

The word ‘equity’ has become a buzzword in today’s social landscape. And when it comes to public housing authorities (PHAs), striving to achieve equitable outcomes through their policies, practices, and partnerships is a continuous goal. Although it can be challenging to implement initiatives when PHAs face hardships, from funding constraints to a lack of community partners, many organizations are making this happen. To help PHAs learn from their peers, the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) surveyed PHAs about their equity initiatives and the resources needed to expand this work. This data came together to form PAHRC’s latest report, How Public Housing Authorities Are Addressing Equity. The report, which HAI Group sponsored, also includes a resource guide that outlines the strategies PHAs can pursue to help residents of all backgrounds achieve successful outcomes. 

HAI Group’s Staci Canny sat down with PAHRC’s Lead Research Analyst Kelly McElwain, and Eric Brushett, a research analyst at PAHRC, to discuss this report. 

We relaunched our company blog in 2022 with the goal of delivering timely insurance, risk management, and professional development tips for the affordable housing industry.

As the U.S. is facing a shortage of over seven million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters, and more than 320,000 homes have affordability restrictions expiring in the next five years, advocating for the need for affordable housing has never been greater. Today, housing agencies are exploring various preservation options, from purchasing Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) properties to accepting donated buildings, engaging in green construction, or participating in the latest tax credit programs.

No matter what route your agency may go down to acquire and rehab existing affordable housing, we’ve rounded up three preservation resources that you should add to your toolbox. The best part is they’re available to agencies at no cost!

HAI Group is a proud sponsor of the NHPD, a database that helps people better understand the stock of publicly supported housing in their community and preserve affordable housing options for low-income households. Kelly McElwain, MPP, tells us more about this vital tool.