Dear friend,

Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Land and Housing Program at New America. This month we launched a partnership with Slate to reimagine the future of the U.S. coasts, researched the role of institutional investors in the real estate market, and discussed the property rights implications of the war in Ukraine. We're also gearing up for a late spring event that reflects on ten years of the UN's Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). 

🔊 TODAY (9:00am U.S. Eastern): Join FLH and the Norwegian Refugee Council for our webinar,"Millions of Ukrainians Have Fled. What Happens to Their Property?”  

Here's what else we've been up to:

What We're Doing

The Future of the Coasts: Reimagining Our Climate Crisis

Climate change presents huge risks to over 100 million Americans living on the U.S. coasts. To adapt to increasing threats such as sea-level rise and stronger storms, we need to reimagine life both on the shore and in “climate havens” like the Midwest. We've launched a collaboration with Future Tense at Slate that explores our climate future, including articles on:

• The current plight of climate refugees, in response to the Future Tense Fiction story, "Empathy Hour."
• Why "managed retreat," the U.S. Government's incremental approach to sea-level rise, is increasingly unfeasible.
• Why the term “managed retreat” is so unfortunate, and how we can use better language to communicate about climate adaptation.

We're continuing to publish articles on the "Future of the Coasts" during spring and summer 2022. Check here for updates!

What Happens to the Homes Ukrainians Leave Behind?

Over 25 percent of the Ukrainian population has been displaced since Russia's invasion, leaving behind homes and livelihoods. When the day comes for millions to return and rebuild, how will Ukrainians reclaim homes still standing, or receive compensation for properties that have been destroyed or stolen?

FLH director Yuliya Panfil and international land tenure expert Gregory Myers recently wrote for Foreign Policy on the steps that the Ukrainian Government, international aid organizations, and refugees can take to increase chances of a successful post-war reconstruction process.

This morning we and the Norwegian Refugee Council are hosting an event on this topic, "Millions of Ukrainians Have Fled. What Happens to Their Property?”

It's not too late to register for the webinar (9:00am U.S. Eastern).

Impact Stories: Eviction and Foreclosure Data

In partnership with DataKind, as well as more than a dozen cities and counties, we're facilitating local collection and analysis of eviction and foreclosure data, notably through release of the Foreclosure and Eviction Analysis Tool (FEAT) earlier this year. 

This week we published several stories from our local partners, who have used housing loss data to help prevent displacement in their communities. Whether mobilizing resources to respond to an ever-evolving housing crisis or navigating the court system to obtain trial statistics, these stories showcase how data can be used to move the needle on housing policy and advocacy.

Read these stories here.

What We're Reading

FLH staff share what has stood out to them lately on land, housing, and property rights in the U.S. and internationally.

Yuliya Panfil

Homeowner Groups Seek to Stop Investors from Buying Houses to Rent: Homeowner associations across the U.S. have historically had a lot of leverage over what kind of development happens in their backyard. In recent years, this has extended to not only what gets built, but to who can purchase and own homes as well. To stave off out-of-town investors who turn properties into rentals, and often delay maintenance, from encroaching in their neighborhoods, some homeowner associations across the U.S. are starting to place caps on the number of homes that investors can buy. There is a lot of concern over the increasing presence of investors in the U.S. housing market, and there are also several policy solutions to address this. But if homeowners associations are the main regulator of investor activity in neighborhoods, will it only be the neighborhoods with the most resources and the most engaged citizenry who will be able to prevent some of the consequences? 

Sabiha Zainulbhai

Understanding the U.S. Housing Crisis in an Era of Inflation: In this interview, economist Jenny Schuetz lays out the biggest challenges plaguing the U.S. housing system, and discusses how local, state and federal governments must work in tandem to unlock as many opportunities to increase housing security as possible. Addressing the lack of housing supply, which underlies and exacerbates almost every other housing issue, will require time as soliciting approval for and building new housing takes time. But in the short-term and medium-term, ensuring that we provide minimum security for everyone, regardless of the ability to pay, is critical. This interview offers clarity on a hugely consequential issue in which there’s no silver bullet and in which all its challenges must be addressed simultaneously.

Tim Robustelli

Amazon's $2B housing push is mostly leaving out D.C. area's poorest: Lack of affordable housing is a long-standing problem in the Washington, D.C. area. And Amazon’s coming move into Northern Virginia, just down the road from the Pentagon, is raising concerns that shortages will only become worse. Recognizing such fears, the tech giant has pledged two billion to build and preserve over 4,000 affordable housing units. Some locals see the investments as transformative, helping to keep living costs down for low-to-medium income families in a very expensive city. Yet others point out that Amazon isn’t doing much for the region’s lowest-income households—such as waiters, bus drivers, and construction workers. These workers could soon be displaced out into the suburbs, and struggle commuting to work closer to downtown. More broadly, some economists and housing advocates note that a few billion dollars won’t make much of a dent in the affordability crisis. So what role, if any, do companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta have to play in this critical public policy challenge?

Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Reach out to us at FLH@NewAmerica.org or tag us at @FLHatNewAmerica.

Until next month, the FLH Team.

About New America

New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. We’re a different kind of think tank: one dedicated to public problem solving. Our team of visionary researchers, changemakers, technologists, and storytellers study and seize the opportunities presented by dramatic social and technological change. We search for powerful ideas, wherever they are, and collaborate with civic innovators around the world to develop evidence-based solutions.

The Future of Land and Housing Program at New America aims to help solve today’s land and housing rights challenges, both in the United States and internationally. Through our research and writing, convening, and collaboration with civic innovators worldwide, we strive to connect new constituencies, shed light on underreported issues, and implement creative approaches in the property rights space.

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