Residential Real Estate Newsroom

Ideas That Work: Building Communities Through Homeownership

Ideas that Work offers practical advice on how to establish homeownership programs. It draws on the experiences and successes of HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP) grantees nationwide who have developed and implemented a variety of programs and initiatives that promote homeownership. This document outlines the unique academic resources that institutions of higher education (IHEs) can bring to the process of designing community-based homeownership programs; describes how IHEs and their community partners can promote homeownership by either actively building affordable housing, marketing community neighborhoods to prospective homeowners, or developing a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy of which homeownership is only a part; focuses on services that local partnerships can provide directly to prospective home-owners; and presents several unique programs through which OUP grantees support homeownership by training the individuals who will eventually build and finance owner-occupied homes. In addition, resources and contact information for resource persons are listed.