Affordable housing that actually works.
We lease quality apartments at market rate and sublease them at deeply affordable rents — delivering affordable housing at a quarter of the cost and six times the speed of new construction.
Vision
A new regime in affordable housing.
Functional Housing creates person-centered affordable housing that aligns with the goals of everyday working people, in places that produce systems of support. We believe affordable housing can scale to reverse the course of societal inequality — and that the fastest way to do it, in a political environment shifting toward more housing supply, is to lease a portion of that new supply as affordable.
Our Pitch
2nd Place: UChicago Booth's Social New Venture Challenge
Our target: $2,000 in savings generated per tenant — one of three ways we measure whether master leasing is actually working.
Values
What guides the work
Efficiency
We deliver the most cost-efficient form of affordable housing possible, unlocking units that would never otherwise be affordable through our master leasing model.
Scale
Every choice we make is scalable across housing markets and replicable long-term.
Support
Tenant services are core to what makes affordable housing work — every building budget includes services that help tenants reach their goals.
Impermanence
Guided by our radical social work principles, we strive to create systems change. If we work ourselves out of a job, that's a good thing.
Backed By
Change housing today.
Every gift funds a real unit, faster and cheaper than traditional affordable development.
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