MHP has surveyed the latest tools and articles to locate those that might be of interest to MHP Connect readers. This month's resources include national and local tools for monitoring housing in need of preservation and tools for successful homeownership, including shared equity home ownership and educational materials for new home buyers.

National Housing Preservation Database

Recently, the Public and Affordable Research Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released a powerful new tool for preserving America's affordable rental housing.  The National Housing Preservation Database integrates information on all housing subsidies for each federally subsidized project.  The database allows filtration of data based on geography, subsidy type, property name, or "at risk of loss" status.  According to the NLIHC, the database "enables advocates and researchers to easily quantify the supply of federally assisted affordable housing in any geography while at the same time establishing a baseline of subsidized affordable units against which future levels can be measured." 

Streams

Minnesota's Housing Link, living up to their motto of "simplifying affordable housing, recently released their Streams application. Streams allows users to filter property searches based on: property name, property address, groups served (e.g. elderly or disabled), funding categories (e.g. project-based subsidy or Low Income Housing Tax Credit), funding stream (e.g. federal, state, local, or philanthropic), and obligation expiration.  Much like the National Preservation Database, this handy application can be used by housing advocates to monitor and ensure affordable housing preservation.

Evidence Matters

The Fall 2012 edition of HUD's periodical, Evidence Matters, examines various approaches to promoting successful homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals as well as the concerns these efforts raise.  While there are many fascinating articles in this edition, be sure to check out "Shared Equity Models Offer Sustainable Homeownership," which discusses the unique and sustainable model of northern Minnesota's One Roof Community Housing!

Framework

In an effort to ensure more successful homeownership, the Housing Partnership Network and Minnesota Homeownership Center released Framework, a comprehensive online educational tool available to first-time homebuyers.