1. Sue Denihan

2. Solution: Build a Business Constituency for Housing and
Lack of savings and inadequate wages both form barriers to homeownership for many working families.
Solution: Build a Business Constituency for Housing and
Equitable Development
Employer
Assisted
Housing
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3. Why Employer Assisted Housing programs?
Housing costs rising faster than incomes.
38% of renters & mortgage holders are house burdened.
Zoning and land use policies often prohibit construction of new workforce housing near suburban employment centers.
Bulk of lower-cost housing tends are located in distressed, urban neighborhoods – these areas lack good schools, local retail and services, and other essentials for health, productivity, and upward mobility.
These trends leave low and moderate income workers (police, teachers, firefighters, retail salespeople, healthcare workers, etc.) facing a tradeoff between paying a larger share of their income for housing or enduring a LONG, COMPLICATED, and EXPENSIVE DAILY COMMUTE to a distant job site.
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4. Employers are largely untapped resource for affordable housing
Employers are largely untapped resource for affordable housing. EAH programs offer a way for employers, communities, and local government to work together to address workforce housing challenges.
EAH is any housing program - rental or homeownership – that is financed or in some way assisted by an employer.
Most EAH programs help employees purchase homes, often near their workplace.
EAH programs can also provide rental assistance or increase amount of housing in the surrounding community that is affordable for an employer’s workers.
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5. Key Selling Points to Employers
The most compelling reason for employers to participate in EAH programs is enlightened self-interest linked to their financial bottom line, although many certainly also see the benefits in “doing good.”
Key Selling Points to Employers
Cost savings resulting from reduced turnover
Lower costs of recruitment
Increased retention
Increased employee morale and loyalty
Improved community relations
For employers located in high-cost areas, the talent pool of available hires shrinks — or productivity declines as workers face long commutes. 
Major employers in the Austin area…
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8. Benefits to employees, employers, and communities: Homeownership
By providing financial assistance with the initial costs of homeownership, EAH makes homeownership more accessible for lower-income people and provides a pathway for building assets and wealth through participating in the housing market.
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9. Benefits to employees, employers, and communities:
Lower Housing and Transportation Burdens
EAH programs enable workers to live near the workplace can reduce the costs of transportation, freeing up income that can be saved or spent on other needs and time that would have been spent commuting.
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10. Benefits to employees, employers, and communities:
Employer Cost Savings
EAH programs help employees overcome housing barriers to living near the workplace, employers can reduce employee turnover and lower costs related to recruitment and retention.
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11. Benefits to employees, employers, and communities: Employee Morale
EAH programs boosts employee morale and reduces transportation time and costs for workers, resulting in less tardiness and absenteeism and higher productivity.
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12. Benefits to employees, employers, and communities:
Improved Community Services
First responders (police, fire and emergency service workers) and teachers and healthcare providers, are increasingly unable to afford homes in the communities they serve.
EAH programs increase the safety, preparedness, and general quality of life of entire communities.
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13. Creation of new affordable housing
Types of EAH Programs
Program that offers employees affordable ownership (mortgage assistance)
Creation of new affordable housing
Most EAH programs provide employees with housing counseling and forgivable loans – often of $5,000 or more – to help with the initial costs of home purchase. Loans are forgiven over a five-year period, reducing employee turnover.
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14. EAH Types of Assistance
Loans or grants to help with down payment and closing costs
loans are low – or zero – interest
structured to be forgivable over a period of time
deferred until home is sold or employee leaves the company
Mortgage Insurance Assistance
Employer purchases mortgage insurance for a loan.
Employee development account or matched savings
Employer helps establish and fund down payment savings accounts, providing matching funds for savings and/or payroll deductions.
Mortgage buy-down
Cash is paid up front to lower interest rates – either temporarily or for the life of the a mortgage loan.
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15. beneficiaries must purchase a home in the program’s target area;
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has run an employer-assisted housing program since 1997.
The university, The Rouse Company Foundation and the city of Baltimore fund it.
The program focuses on home purchases, and its assistance comes with certain conditions:
beneficiaries must purchase a home in the program’s target area;
contribute at least $1,000 to the down payment and/or closing costs;
complete a home ownership counseling course;
primary residence for at least five years.
400 employees have received grants since the program began.
The grants have risen from a few thousand dollars at the program’s inception to a current maximum of $36,000.
One of the program’s benefits is that the university has multiple campuses and allows participants to live near any of them, even if it’s not right by the campus where they work.
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16. How large is the affordability gap?
EAH Program Design
Conduct a needs assessment to understand market conditions of the community, housing challenges faced by workers, available resources, and employer interest.
Questions to ask?
What are the housing market conditions – housing costs, availability of affordable units, market activity, and planned construction?
What are the housing needs of low-income residents and workers in the community?
How large is the affordability gap?
Will the level of benefit available be sufficient to alleviate housing burdens of working families?
Is there adequate capacity for program administrations, marketing, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure success?
Can the EAH program be made available and useful to lower-income residents?
Are their opportunities to support rental assistance, credit counseling?
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17. Commitment and initiative of company leaders.
EAH Program Design
Characteristics that are likely to influence employers level of interest in offering EAH and what kind of strategy will appeal to each:
Commitment and initiative of company leaders.
Alignment of company mission with the strategy.
Industry sector.
Proportion of low-wage workers relative to total workforce.
Company location relative to housing that workers can afford AND to public transportation.
Strength of employer connection to a given location and community.
Existence of a business interest in the strategy (lenders, realtors).
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18. Key Players in EAH Programs Employers
Some are better suited to EAH than others. Large employers rooted in the community where they are located face high workforce retention and recruitment challenges due to lack of nearby housing for workers.
Those employers that have demonstrated commitment to community involvement are the best.
Employees
Although it seems that employees are the easiest component to enlist, many believe they are ineligible, think that the assistance will be ineffective, or may lack information about the program.
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19. Key Players in EAH Programs Local Housing Finance Agencies
Even if not directly administering the program, HFC’s can help generate local support, provide data and technical assistance, help overcome development hurdles, provide connections to local businesses, and open up funding avenues that are unavailable to private organizations (your current homebuyer programs).
HFC’s have thorough knowledge of housing assistance, community development strategies, and mortgage finance, and have sufficient available resources to deal with the potential volume of the EAH program.
Local Business Groups
Private employers, local chambers of commerce, and other business groups can be key partners in marketing the concept to employers, establishing programs, and advocating for supportive policies.
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20. Key Players in EAH Programs Homebuyer Education Providers
Homebuyer education guides participants through the entire borrowing process, helping them understand their options, find a lender and real estate agent, negotiate the complexities of a loan, choose the best affordable loan product, and understand what they are able to afford.
Credit Repair
In some cases, workers are not immediately eligible for most or all lending products, including those specifically designed for low-income buyers. EAH programs can improve employee eligibility through partnerships with organizations that provide financial literacy and credit repair services.
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