Habitat for Humanity believes that everyone deserves a decent place to live. Habitat cannot build our way to this vision alone. But by lending our voices to workable policy solutions at all levels of government, we can multiply our efforts to put homeownership within reach of millions more Americans from all backgrounds. To do this, Habitat Spokane has established a robust Government Affairs function so that we can put our communities’ voices into action and serve as a leading voice in housing policy at the local, state, and federal levels. This strategy envisions Habitat for Humanity-Spokane as the leading voice in affordable homeownership policy in Eastern Washington and an expert at identifying policy shortcomings in the region and fixing them.

Habitat’s national policy platform presents actionable public policy strategies for getting us to this vision. It is built around three pillars that will be critical to success:

1. Affordable Homeownership Supply

This pillar focuses on increasing the number of affordable homes, especially for low- and moderate-income households. Strategies include:

• Investing in affordable home construction and preservation.
• Improving access to land and properties for affordable homebuilders.
• Reducing zoning barriers that hinder affordable housing.
• Lowering taxes and fees for affordable homebuilding.
• Supporting models that preserve long-term affordability (e.g., shared equity).

2. Equitable Homeownership Access

This pillar aims to remove barriers that prevent underserved populations from achieving homeownership, particularly communities of color, rural residents, and those in persistent poverty. Strategies include:

• Expanding down payment assistance and fair lending practices.
• Improving access to credit in rural and disinvested areas.
• Making housing choice vouchers usable for homeownership.
• Reforming tax credits to better support low- and moderate-income homebuyers.

3. Homeownership Resilience

This pillar emphasizes helping current homeowners retain their homes and build long-term stability and wealth. It includes:

• Funding critical home repairs for low-income households.
• Offering property tax relief and affordable insurance.
• Promoting climate resilience through home fortification and energy efficiency.
• Enabling intergenerational wealth transfer through legal and estate planning support.