The Flagstone Initiative selected as a semi-finalist in the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge
We are delighted to announce that we have been selected as one of 42 housing innovators to advance to Round 2 of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, from a pool of over 400 candidates. The Challenge is presented by Enterprise Community Partners with the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Our entry in the Challenge is making Rent Splitting completely free and dramatically scaling it for 15 million low- and moderate-income renters.
Rent Splitting is a simple concept, enabling renters to pay the first half of rent on the 1st and second half on the 15th. But it is also a powerful financial stability tool for low-income renters to smooth out their biggest spending each month and better align with their paychecks. The power of it is not entirely surprising given that Rent Splitting is structurally equivalent to a payday loan without any interest or fees.
Our not-for-profit Rent Splitting has neither credit requirements nor fees, which makes it even easier for residents to benefit. In the first year of our demonstration project in Oklahoma City, Rent Splitting has consistently shown 30%+ usage, and more importantly, 53% lower delinquency and 32% lower turnover rates for the users.
Furthermore, in a survey of rent-splitting residents, 79% said that rent splitting reduced the need to borrow money to pay rent on time, and 88% said they could better handle unexpected expenses. High usage. High impact. A win-win for both residents and housing owner/operators.
Here’s the announcement from Enterprise Community Partners:
42 Housing Innovators Advance in the
2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge
Round 2 of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is underway, with 42 organizations from Florida to Alaska selected to advance their housing innovation in this next important phase of the competition.
Semi-finalists were selected from a pool of over 400 nationwide applications. They are competing for grants up to $3 million to fuel housing solutions across the challenge’s three focus areas: construction, financing, and access and resident support.
Enterprise leads the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge with the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation. The 2023 challenge is the second cycle of the innovation competition, created to spark and support housing solutions that reimagine access to quality places to live in the United States.
Meet the Round 2 semi-finalists
We’re honored to have been recognized as a semi-finalist, and excited about the chance to expand Rent Splitting at a broader scale. Keep your fingers crossed, and stay tuned!
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