Scroll down to view examples of shared equity programs being implemented in communities across the country, or browse by approach:
Limited equity cooperative *The
Hermitage Manor Cooperative in Chicago, Illinois maintains 108 affordable townhouses in a gentrifying neighborhood. To purchase shares in the co-op, buyers must earn less than 95 percent of the
area median income (AMI) and must also have a monthly income of at least four times the monthly cost of the unit. Residents whose incomes increase above the 95 percent threshold must pay a 10 percent surcharge each month.
Since 1984,
ROC-NH, formerly called the
New Hampshire Community Loan Funds Manufactured Housing Park Program has helped convert 72 parks containing 3,500 manufactured homes into "Resident Owned Communities." In these parks, the land and infrastructure are owned and maintained by a cooperative housing corporation whose shares are held by park residents. This structure protects residents from investors and developers intending to convert the land for more profitable purposes. Affordability is strictly maintained: when an owner moves out of the park, the co-op repurchases that member's share for the same price the resident originally paid.
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Community land trustIn Chaska, Minnesota, the
Chaska Community Land Trust (CCLT), a non-profit founded in 2002, retains land rights to the homes it sells to new homeowners. CCLT is based on a unique public-private partnership with the City of Chaska. As part of its comprehensive plan, the City decided to provide
density bonuses to developers who agree (1) to make 25 percent of units affordable to low- and moderate-income homebuyers, and (2) to donate land for an additional 5 percent of units to the CCLT. In order to qualify for Land Trust homes, households must earn no more than 80 percent of AMI. The CCLT splits any appreciation in the appraised value of the property 75/25 between the land and the home.
The
Northern California Land Trust
(NCLT) has developed 165 units of affordable housing since its creation
in 1973, with over 35 more units currently in the works. NCLT reduces
the cost of homeownership by retaining control over the land underneath
homes, while selling the homes themselves to program participants. NCLT
offers different kinds of homes - including single-family houses and
condominiums - to different income groups. The exact specifications for
the program differ depending on the type of home being purchased: for
instance, some properties are available for households earning 80
percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and others to those earning 60
percent of AMI. As long as a home is occupied for at least
three years, its occupant may resell the house at the original purchase
plus an amount tied to the increase in the AMI during the term of
homeownership. The value of approved improvements to the home is also
factored into the resale price.
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Index-based resale formulaA Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) in Eastern King County, Washington, is a multi-jurisdictional agency whose members include county and city governments. Created in 1992, it uses a modified AMI Index to maintain 30-year affordability for homes created through its
housing trust fund as well as through
inclusionary zoning,
density bonuses, and other municipal programs. The increase in price upon resale is limited to an average of the percentage increase in AMI and the percentage increase in home resale prices. This approach has the potential to sustain affordability indefinitely, but the contracts are written to lapse after 30 years. On the first sale after the affordability contract lapses, the seller must return any proceeds beyond what they would have earned under the AMI index approach back into the Housing Trust Fund, increasing funding for new affordable housing construction.
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* Examples taken from Shared Equity Homeownership: The Changing Landscape of Resale-restricted, Owner Occupied Housing. [PDF] 2006. By John Emmeus Davis. Newark, NJ: National Housing Institute.
