BHP’s Black Housing Agenda

The Black Homeownership Project’s Black Housing Agenda is a five-point advocacy agenda for Black New Yorkers that prioritizes:

• Ending predatory and speculative activities that target Black communities and encourage gentrification and displacement
• Stabilizing Black homeowners to keep them in their homes
• Increasing the supply of social, public, and affordable homeownership housing models
• Prioritizing healthy and resilient housing
• Growing Black Community Wealth Networks

1. End Systems That Encourage Gentrification and Displacement

Black New Yorkers deserve to feel secure in their neighborhoods and in their homes. As such, BHP wants to end the exploitation by speculative markets, predatory investors, and unaccountable corporations that target Black communities for displacement and undermine the growth of Black homeownership and Black wealth – which exacerbate the widening of the racial wealth and housing gap. Without intervention, we will see increased incidences of deed theft and scams, continuous discriminatory mortgage lending practices, speculation, and gentrification that lead to increased housing costs, deferred maintenance and repairs, and increased risk of displacement.

2. Commit Long-Term Investments in Black Homeownership Stabilization Programs

a. Stabilize Pathways to Homeownership

In our current housing system, the pathways to homeownership are remarkably convoluted and inaccessible for Black residents. Data has shown biases among various housing actors (lenders, appraisers, developers, etc.) that disproportionately disadvantage Black homeowners in their pursuit of homeownership. The Black Homeownership Project also recognizes that a significant part of this work is to increase the number of Black homeowners as a fundamental way to close the generational wealth gap, and as such, is advocating for policies that directly address the preemptive facets that lead to homeownership. At the federal level, the 3 by 30 project is leading the effort to increase Black homeownership by 3 million by the year 2030. In New York City, our goals to increase homeownership are also intertwined with our efforts to protect historically Black neighborhoods and strengthen Black communities.

b. Maintain the Stability of Existing Black Homeownership

Current Black homeowners need ongoing support for foreclosure prevention, home repair, estate planning, and landlord-tenant mediation services. It is critical that programs and networks such as the Protect Our Homes/Homeowner Protection Program, The Homeowner Help Desk, and The Black Homeownership Project continue to exist and receive ongoing stable funding so Black homeowners can continue receiving free referrals to local housing counseling and legal services. Without intervention, we will see a disproportionate number of Black homeowners lost to tax lien sales and a disproportionate number of Black homeowners facing foreclosure.

3. Increase the Supply of Social, Public, and Affordable Homeownership Housing Models

Black New Yorkers deserve housing justice in the form of equitable alternative pathways toward permanent, affordable, and stable housing free from displacement, discrimination, and harassment from predatory real estate speculators. Non-market-based, shared equity, social, and public housing models such as community land trusts and cooperatives have been shown to increase housing security and stabilization, reduce foreclosures, maintain equity, and protect intentionally marginalized people from displacement amid economic downturns.

4. Prioritize Healthy and Resilient Housing in Alignment with Climate Goals

Black New Yorkers bear the brunt of climate change and the negative impacts of extreme weather events such as flooding and heat. Black communities and their homes must be prioritized for rehabilitation, remediation, disaster preparedness, and energy efficiency to ensure all homes are safe, healthy, and free of dangerous conditions.

5. Grow Black Community Wealth Networks

Black wealth has been undermined and stolen by predatory investors, corporations, and real estate entities because of intentionally racist housing policies. In New York, this undermining of wealth plays out disproportionately in Black communities with the increasing incidences of deed theft and private investor and corporate ownership of housing. To reverse this, Black New Yorkers require substantial social and economic safety nets with early interventions, investments, and funding programs – specifically designed for the Black community – that seek to divest from speculative and extractive markets.