HUD Publishes Community First: Ensuring Housing Development Meets the Demands of the Market and Existing Residents

HUD Publishes Community First: Ensuring Housing Development Meets the Demands of the Market and Existing Residents HUD has published the Community First: Ensuring Housing Development Meets the Demands of the Market and Existing Residents guide. This guide explains important market factors HUD grantees and subgrantees should consider when analyzing and understanding the characteristics and needs of their potential buyer markets and how to attract homebuyers. Instead of focusing solely on the supply of affordable housing, successful development or redevelopment needs to include strategies that align with demand. To meet its mission to "create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all," HUD programs like HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) provide funding for a wide range of activities for communities to meet their unique housing needs. Yet, many local programs focus on increasing the supply of housing without understanding how community needs and preferences drive market demand. When organizations spend much of their funding for subsidized homebuilding without engaging potential buyers, they may fail to reach their target market. View the guide for strategies that attract and support buyers. Visit the HUD Exchange at https://www.hudexchange.info