Affordable Housing Institute : US

A few weeks back, I had the enormous pleasure, both personal and intellectual, of hosting an eight-executive UK delegation on the Boston leg of their whirlwind study tour of the US:

 

 

— two days in Washington (mostly with Brookings), two days in Boston (during which I acted as host and tour guide), then back home.   

 

We structured their visit into three modules:

 

·         Roundtable with thought leaders: people (such as our host, Fred Copeman of Ernst & Young) whose thinking strongly influences the affordable housing debate and best practice, to discuss trends, developments, and challenges.

·         Roundtable with capital providers: debt, equity, tax credits, technical assistance, and advocacy (led by our host, Joe Flatley of MHIC), whose judgments decide which properties are built, where, and with what economics.

·         A rolling site tour showing how these ideas and capital sources turn into housing including two stops, one at Mission Main and one at the Hotel Dartmouth.

 

In between, and before we poured our energized and exhausted guests onto their plane homeward for a well-deserved weekend, we gave them a bit of R&R in the form of dinner following a walk through Harvard Yard:

 

 

Touching John Harvard’s toe:

eight Britishers soaking up the local wisdom

From left to right:

Paul Hackett, Smith (no relation!) Institute

Tom Titherington, Hyde Housing

Alisdair MacIntosh, Scottish Executive

Mike De’Ath, HTA Architects

Richard Parker, PWC London, public-private partnership

Kevin Parkes, Middlesbrough Council

Kim Penfold, Harvest Housing

Mel Godfrey, Knowsley

 

(The English camera thought it was still in London, +5 from Boston, hearing the chimes at midnight.)

 

Just as George Bernard Shaw (an Irishmen who reveled in being feted by the English) aphoristically commented that the English and Americans are two people separated by a common language, so too are we alike yet different in housing.

 

 

“And are ye workin’ for the Irish too, lad?”

“I am, Mr. Shaw.”

 

(I’m working on a Brit-to-Yank-to-Brit glossary, for those whose gearing lacks intellectual headroom.)

 

Despite the enormous cultural affinity between our countries, we have evolved quite distinct ecosystems separated by a common vision of what constitutes quality affordable housing and its importance in placemaking and urban regeneration. 

 

We think we know what’s in the other’s ecosystem, but we don’t, and the shock is fully as great as the first time the Boss tried navigating a right-hand drive car through London traffic.

 

It’s the roundabouts that’ll kill you.

 

Very briefly, here’s what I’ve found (so far!) that each of us has innovated that the other could profitably study:

 

US innovations worth UK study

 

1. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
2. Financially autonomous local government (local real estate taxation).
3. Soft equity via investment tax credits (historic, Low Income, and New Markets).
4. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
5. Multi-layered resources (Federal, state, local) in a complex ecosystem.
6. Long-term permanent professional rental sector (PPRS).
7. Resident social services embedded in properties.

     

Both red white and blue, and both tell a story

 

UK innovations worth US study

 

1. Shared ownership
2. Housing Associations (very large, geographically concentrated, long-lived and sophisticated beyond ours).
3. Corporate financing applied to affordable housing portfolios.
4. Stock transfer.
5. Right-to-buy.

 

In less than two weeks, my erstwhile guests will be my hosts, when I get my 7½ minutes of fame (not even a full Warhol!) at 11 Downing Street. 

 

“You’re not even worth fifteen minutes …”

 

You can be sure I’ll report.

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