Affordable Housing

Local governments are striving to shape communities where all citizens—from service workers to police officers, firefighters to other civil servants—can afford to live. COG’s Housing Program helps advance these efforts by sharing data and best practices among governments, officials, and stakeholders, developing strategic partnerships, and supporting outreach and education efforts.

COG monitors the region’s progress in creating and preserving affordable housing and addressing an imbalance between the location of jobs and housing. COG works with local governments to support local plans for residential growth, especially in mixed-use Activity Centers. COG partnered with Urban Institute to produce the 2014 research study Housing Security in the Washington Region. Funded by the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region with support from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the study quantifies critical gaps in affordable housing across a range of incomes. The study also summarizes local government housing programs and philanthropic support for housing and homelessness programs throughout the region. 

COG shares affordable housing preservation and production strategies and tools at forums and conferences and establishes strategic partnerships to communicate the region’s affordable housing needs and advance solutions. COG’s support for affordable housing preservation also included the Capital Area Foreclosure Network (CAFN), a partnership between COG and the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. CAFN focused on addressing the region's foreclosure crisis that occurred during and after the Great Recession by providing grants and technical assistance to front-line housing counseling organizations, convening stakeholders in local government, nonprofits, banking, and state agencies to advocate for solutions, and providing informational campaigns and resources to help at-risk homeowners get help and avoid scams.