Jacobus — Permanently Affordable Housing
Rick Jacobus, Inclusionary Housing: Creating and Maintaining Equitable Communities (2015), Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Pre-reading note — not yet read.
Why This Book Matters
This is the practitioner’s manual for shared equity homeownership — the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s guide to the legal, financial, and policy mechanics of keeping housing permanently affordable. Where Davis provides the history and philosophy, Jacobus provides the spreadsheets. Resale formulas, ground lease terms, subsidy retention calculations, AMI benchmarks, stewardship organization design — this is where the numbers live.
If a funder, municipal partner, or housing policy person asks “how does the affordability actually stay permanent?”, the answer needs to be grounded in the framework Jacobus lays out. This is the technical credibility book.
Connection to the Project
Directly relevant to the Wellspring Financing Strategy and CLT-LEHC Hybrid model. The 30% of AMI-scaled income target, the resale formula design, the ground lease mechanics — these all need to be calibrated against the standards Jacobus documents. This is also where the Demutualization protections get their legal specificity: what structural features in the ground lease and organizational bylaws prevent future conversion to market-rate housing?
What to Read For
- Resale formula design — how do different formulas balance equity building for residents against long-term affordability?
- Ground lease terms — what provisions protect the mission across ownership transitions?
- The stewardship organization — what does the CLT entity need to look like institutionally to maintain the model over decades?
- Policy integration — how do CLTs interact with municipal zoning, tax policy, and affordable housing programs?
- Data on outcomes — do CLT homeowners actually build wealth? Do they stay? What are the default rates compared to conventional mortgages?