Shared Equity Housing

Shared equity housing models are a specific type of housing strategy that create permanently affordable homes, build wealth for families and create vibrant, inclusive and equitable communities. Some models of shared equity housing include: 

• Community land trusts
• Deed-restricted homes
• Limited-equity housing cooperatives
• Resident-owned manufactured housing communities

These models all ensure that families with modest incomes can access stable homeownership while also making sure that affordability remains in the community over time. This can be achieved when ownership is shared between a homeowner and a nonprofit representing the community, between a group of homeowners, or when an initial subsidy is shared from one family to the next over generations to keep it affordable over time. As a result, long-time residents can remain in their neighborhoods, affordable housing investments are stretched to serve more families, and communities remain stable and inclusive.

Advancing the Promise of Shared Equity Housing Models

Shared equity housing creates lasting affordability, builds wealth for people with limited incomes and helps create vibrant and inclusive communities. Shared equity programs typically realize these outcomes by limiting the sale or rental price of homes in their portfolios; requiring the sharing of home appreciation gains; and providing homeownership assistance to program residents. Residents and community members often participate in governing shared equity programs through democratic decision-making and/or a cooperative ownership structure.

NeighborWorks America received a total of $3 million in appropriations from Congress in 2019 and 2020 to support the promotion and development of shared equity housing models. Our paper "Advancing the Promise of Shared Equity Housing Models" describes the outcomes of NeighborWorks' Shared Equity Housing Initiative (Shared Equity Initiative), which deployed these funds from 2019-2021, to support the growth of shared equity models within NeighborWorks' network and in the housing and community development industry more broadly. Through the initiative, NeighborWorks is able to:  

1. Provide funding for NeighborWorks network organizations to plan, launch or grow shared equity programs.  
2. Design and deliver new and updated training courses.  
3. Support the evaluation of shared equity models.  
4. Deploy specialized capacity-building tools and templates. 

At NeighborWorks, we support nonprofit organizations by building their capacity to use shared equity models as a way to stabilize their communities and prevent displacement and gentrification while also providing long-term affordable housing. We provide grants, develop templates and tools for the field, offer training and provide evaluation services to measure the impact of shared equity housing models on the well-being of residents and in their surrounding communities.

Keeping homes permanently affordable & building wealth

Shared equity housing strategies ensure homes for families who may not otherwise be able to afford stable housing in their neighborhood of choice. This means that subsidies put in to a community remain in that community over time, allowing affordable housing to serve multiple families over generations. By sharing the risks and rewards of homeownership over time, SEH models also serve a pathway to traditional homeownership and wealth building for families who would normally have access to equity-building opportunities. 

Preventing displacement and gentrification

By ensuring that housing units stay affordable regardless of whether a family leaves the neighborhood, shared equity strategies help prevent displacement and ensure stable and diverse neighborhoods. Additionally, data from the recent foreclosure crisis shows that families in shared equity housing are better able to withstand foreclosure than those in the traditional homeownership scenario.

Extending a sense of community ownership

Securing homes through shared equity approaches can help ensure the community remains in control of the land in their neighborhood. Shared equity models often have a board or ownership structure that empowers community members and shared equity homeowners to make decisions about the future of their community and the land beneath it.