Housing
Housing is an essential need. Across the country, localities are working to advance renter protections, increase affordable housing and ensure all community members have protected access to safe housing in complete and thriving neighborhoods.

Our Vision and Work

Housing is an essential need that provides the foundation for people to build their lives, find work, raise the next generation, and age in place.

Our access to housing and the community resources near our homes have been shaped by policies and practices that have harmed and excluded people of color. These inequities continue today while our communities across the country grapple with an affordable housing shortage, weak tenant protections, and increasing corporate consolidation that contribute to displacement and persistent poor housing quality.

Local governments have a critical role in protecting tenants, ensuring their policies and programs preserve and develop housing so that it is accessible for all residents, is resilient and responsive to our changing environment, and contributes to the well-being of our communities and residents throughout its design, construction, and maintenance.

Featured Resources

Stable Rents, Rooted Communities

Rent stabilization policies are essential, common sense solutions to help address the housing crisis and keep people in their homes. This toolkit, developed by Local Progress Impact Lab in partnership with Power Switch Action, breaks down the key components of a rent stabilization policy so you can build a policy that  best meets the needs of your community.

See the PDF here.

Visit the website here.

FROM HOUSE TO HOME

Local Progress’s new messaging guide provides a framework for how to discuss housing justice issues and rent stabilization based on polling, research, and messaging best practices from local electeds in our network. This introductory level guide provides sample messaging and talking points that can be used with constituents, media, and colleagues on renters rights and rent stabilization policies.

See the guide here.

Housing Steering committee

As a membership organization, we believe our work is most impactful when it is informed and guided by members. Bringing a diverse range of expertise and local experience, our Housing Steering Committee advises and shapes our work in this area:

JEREMIAH ELLISON

Minneapolis City Council Member, MN

Vanessa Fuentes' headshot

VANESSA FUENTES

Austin City Council Member, TX

JAMIE GAUTHIER

Philadelphia Councilmember , PA

JOBETH HAMON

Oklahoma City Council Member, OK

MICHELE HIRSCH

Kingston Alderwoman, NY

Mitra Jalali headshot

MITRA JALALI

St. Paul City Councilmember, MN

JAIME KINDER

Meadville Mayor, PA

ROBIN KNIECH

Former Denver City Councilmember, CO

TERESA MOSQUEDA

Seattle City Councilmember , WA

SANDY NURSE

New York City Council Member, NY

ODETTE RAMOS

Baltimore City Council Member, MD

JIVAN SOBRINHO-WHEELER

Cambridge City Council Member, MA

KIM SMITH

Rochester City Councilmember, NY

Resources

Blogs And Featured News

How Corporate Landlords are Colluding to Hike up Rents – And How Localities Can Fight Back

Across the country, landlords are turning to a new tool to raise rents and further exacerbate the housing crisis: software algorithms. Third party service providers like RealPage offer recommendations to landlords that promise to boost their profits while driving up housing costs. Our new memo explains what rent-setting software algorithms are and how local electeds can take action to protect their communities.
Advocates demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on April 22, 2024, during oral arguments for the Grants Pass homelessness case. Aparna Raj/ Local Progress/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation

Ahead of Trump term, U.S. cities grapple with homelessness

While the Trump administration plans to accelerate encampment sweeps, cities are ready to support people experiencing homelessness with dignity. LP leaders make the case for housing over jail time or fines.

CA Local Electeds Call Out Governor for Harmful Encampment Directives

Governor Newsom threatened to withhold funding from localities that didn't comply with his callous directives to clear homeless encampments. Earlier this week, our California members sent a letter to the governor demanding he retract these threats.
A large group standing around while one person speaks at a podium.

Road To Good Cause Campaign Scores 11 Victories Across Upstate New York

The coordinated campaign of local officials expand critical renter protections to thousands of tenants, setting their sights on Rochester next.