Mortgages, Municipalities,
Myths, and Misconceptions

How to frame the affordable housing conversation

Jonathan Knopf
Executive Director for Programs

Why is it so hard to talk about housing?

(As explained by Homer.)

There’s too much going on.

Some people refuse any reality other than their own.

Some people say things you wish you could unhear.

It’s easy to get frustrated!

So what can we do?

📚 Know your facts and history

🔨 Focus on solutions

📣 Rethink how you talk about housing (then think again)

What is affordable housing?

One term, many definitions

TECHNICAL

Your home is affordable if you pay no more than 30 percent of your gross income on housing costs.

PROGRAMMATIC

Your home is affordable if it is subsidized by a public program to reduce your housing costs.

HOLISTIC

Your home is affordable if you feel it is safe, secure, healthy, and within your budget.

Housing is a spectrum

How it works

Homelessness and
supportive housing

Public housing
and vouchers

Affordable rental

American housing policy in three charts

Not to mention…

📈 Rising interest rates

💲 Labor and material costs

🚧 Restrictive land use policies

📉 Lagging wages

👷 Workforce shortages

🏢 Private equity acquisitions

Where does this leave us?

Accelerating prices reflect lack of supply
across the spectrum.

Long-term shifts in federal policy place
increasing responsibilities on states and local communities.

It’s hard to plan for the future when
we’re still solving the past.

A broken housing market makes things tough for everyone.

What can we do?

Make affordable housing

Increase supply:

Zoning reform
Development subsidies
Mixed-income housing
Project-based assistance

Make housing affordable

Manage demand:

Tenant-based assistance
Homebuyer grants
Home repair assistance
Living wages

No wonder this is hard to talk about!

🏡 Housing is personal

🤝 Housing isn’t partisan (usually)

🧠 Housing breaks people’s brains

Everyone thinks
they’re an expert…

Frames and backfires

What is a FRAME?

Frames are sets of choices about how information is presented. Effective framing requires:

Knowing your audience
Knowing what to lead with
Selecting words that “fit your frame”
Choosing what to leave unsaid

How can it BACKFIRE?

A message backfires when it reinforces the audience’s existing biases, rather than changing them…

…even when contradictory evidence is provided.

Common backfires

“Traditional” message

John and Mary need our help. They are trying to overcome addiction and homelessness. They need an affordable home and counseling support.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

They should stop making poor decisions. Don’t ask me to pay for their mistakes.

ZERO-SUM THINKING

I feel bad for them, but it’s got nothing to do with me. It’s not my responsibility to solve their problems.

Four tips for successful reframing

Regional fairness

Focus on systems

Proactive explanations

Pivot to solutions

Direct thinking away from personal decision-making to consequences faced by whole community. Orient benefits to all of us.

Describe the roles and relationships among government, private market, and citizens.

Connect the facts you may take for granted so your audience doesn’t fill in their own blanks with misleading information.

End explanations with clear, actionable remedies to keep focus on how we can fix our problems.

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Be prepared for wherever the conversation goes…

💡 Use familiar places, terms, and concepts

👪 Name the players and their roles in the system

📈 Use data as ingredients, not the full dish

🔄 Connect to larger problems that affect everyone

What you should keep in mind today

“Affordable” is just the start of the conversation

Take advantage of increasing attention on housing issues

We’re making more progress than you might think

…but there’s much more to do!

Good luck!

We’re here to help:

  jonathan@housingforwardva.org

  housingforwardva.org
  @housingforwardva
  @housingforwardva
  @housingfwdva

Mortgages, Municipalities,Myths, and Misconceptions