Looking Back and Accelerating Forward: Increasing Abundance Through the Housing Supply Accelerator

Reflecting on one year since the American Planning Association (APA) and the National League of Cities (NLC) released the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook, a one-of-a-kind guide for how planners, elected officials, and housing partners can work together to boost attainable housing supply.

Collaborative Playbook Advances Housing Supply Solutions

The playbook is a result of the Housing Supply Accelerator partnership, a national campaign designed to facilitate reforms and identify critical solutions to increase housing supply in communities nationwide. This partnership brought together community planners, elected officials, housing policy advocates, home builders, financial institutions, real estate professionals, and other players in the housing space to discuss challenges and align housing solutions at the local level.

Through regular convenings on construction and development, housing finance, infrastructure, workforce needs, and land use and regulations, members of the partnership analyzed obstacles to housing production and the experiences of overcoming them.

The resulting best practice strategies, models, and case studies form the Supply Accelerator Playbook, a one-stop guide for communities looking for tailored solutions to suit their needs.

Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook

Strategies to increase local housing supply

Learn more about strategies, solutions, and case studies for increasing housing supply in your community by downloading the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook.

Get the Playbook

Community planners have been taking judicious steps to boost local housing supply by updating codes, streamlining permitting processes, legalizing varied housing options, and reforming land use regulations.

Here is a look at how planners across the country have been working to leverage these and other strategies from the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook to increase housing abundance:

Omaha, Nebraska, Leverages Layering Funding Sources for Housing

After research revealed a growing gap in available housing options in the greater Omaha, Nebraska area, planners took action to create funding options for housing in the city. Through collaboration of planners, policymakers, and housing partners, the City of Omaha, Nebraska, was able to layer public-private funding sources from the private organization of Front Porch Investments, and federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and Section 108 funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This resulted in $96 million of funding for Omaha to invest in increasing housing supply throughout the metropolitan area.

Since gathering the innovative investments collected by planning efforts, the funds have been used for projects like adaptive reuse of a vacant nursing home to independent senior living, mixed-use developments, as well as preservation of historic buildings for housing.

State of California Pre-approves Accessory Dwelling Units

In response to the need for increasing housing affordability throughout the state, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have become increasingly popular as a solution to housing in California. The increase in ADU production has been made possible in part by the California ADU Plans Gallery, an online tool that allows users to scan pre-approved prefabricated and traditional site-built designs.

This tool is just one of the solutions contributing to ADU production doubling in California since 2020. It also helps local governments reimagine the broad scope of solutions for increasing housing supply and affordability through ADUs.

ADU Knowledgebase

The Benefits of Accessory Dwelling Units

Interested in learning how ADUs can benefit your community? Check out APA's ADU Research KnowledgeBase Collection. You can search for resources that provide background, policy guidance, and examples of local plan recommendations and zoning standards for ADUs from across the country.

Claremore, Oklahoma, Streamlines Review Processes

In the small college town of Claremore, Oklahoma, the housing need was becoming more and more apparent. As the demand for housing increased, planners and the town council took action to create and adopt the Claremore 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

The plan moved to increase housing abundance by creating a new set of Unified Development Codes. As part of the code, the town council includes pre-approved plans and designs for new housing projects in Claremore.

Since the adoption of the codes, the town has seen a significant increase in housing development approvals and new construction, increasing attainable housing options throughout the community.

Looking Forward: Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge

Looking ahead, the Housing Supply Accelerator is excited to advance the partnership to support communities committed to increasing housing supply through reform with the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge.

The Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge, a complement to the playbook, creates a nationwide network of communities designed to accelerate the implementation of proven and innovative housing strategies.

Through this network, communities accepted in the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge will gain access to best practices, technical assistance, housing supply experts, and engage in peer exchanges and spotlight how their community is collaborating to address its local housing supply challenges.

Up to 30 communities will be accepted annually into the network. Learn more about the challenge, what participation means, and how to apply.