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In today's diverse socio-economic landscape, bustling cities and quiet rural towns alike face significant challenges, including those related to housing. These challenges are complex and multifaceted and require comprehensive housing solutions and resources to ease their effects. Moreover, topics such as accessibility, affordability and alignment with local needs have leaped to the forefront of social and economic discourse. 

Enter the concept of a housing toolkit, an approach to planning that empowers communities to navigate the complexities of contemporary housing needs. Whether in urban areas or rural communities, housing toolkits are growing in popularity. It can be difficult, however, to know whether a toolkit is right for your community or region and where to start if you decide to assemble one. In this article, we’ll highlight why communities and regions might need a toolkit, what to include in a toolkit and how the development of a housing toolkit can help communities build support for key housing issues and strategies.

What is a Housing Toolkit?

A housing toolkit is designed to address and streamline processes associated with a community or region's housing initiatives. A toolkit can serve as a valuable resource for local governments, developers, policy advocates and community members at large, offering guidance on various aspects of housing, including development, affordability to sustainability. The objective of any toolkit is to simplify the complex landscape of housing possibilities and challenges and provide a clear framework for communities.

Each toolkit type serves a unique purpose and may focus on a range of aspects such as affordable housing, housing policy, population-specific needs, homelessness solutions, advocacy and awareness, NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) challenges and housing development processes. The most effective housing toolkits equip stakeholders with practical strategies and resources to tackle housing concerns. They often contain best practices, case studies, information on different funding resources, and, in some cases, policy recommendations. All of which are designed to encourage informed decision-making and effective action plans. Toolkits function not just as repositories of information but as blueprints for action, guiding communities through the intricacies of housing projects from inception and planning to execution and evaluation.

Understanding the Need for a Housing Toolkit

The first step in creating a housing toolkit is recognizing the need. Communities must assess their local housing conditions, examining factors such as affordability, availability, product gaps and local housing champions. The initial assessment is an information-gathering process that helps a community or region document and understand both the quantitative and qualitative gaps in the market. Toolkits will often focus on the qualitative aspects of planning – filling knowledge and strategy gaps – rather than focusing on the number and specific types of housing units. The assessment should determine what those gaps are and then how useful a toolkit would be to filling those gaps. If the partners and collaborators who would use the toolkit do not exist, then identifying and developing these groups may replace the first step before a toolkit is even created.

Some communities may be able to conduct a housing assessment on their own, while others may need to employ outside assistance. Either way, an assessment should examine what kinds of housing currently exist in your community or region, what housing is needed, the demographics of your residents and the trends in your economy that influence housing decisions. This foundational data will help you identify which projects and strategies will address the most pressing housing needs in your community or region. One of those strategies may be the development of a housing toolkit necessary to address a specific issue or gap that is identified during the assessment.

Developing a Housing Toolkit

A one-size-fits-all approach will never consider the unique housing needs of a community or region, thus customization is key in addressing specific barriers, whether they stem from political constraints, poor housing quality, systemic racism, rehabilitation costs or restrictive regulations. For example, the Nebraska Strategic Housing Council developed a framework that emphasizes collaboration and goal-setting. Their toolkit contains strategies adaptable to communities of different sizes to help ensure relevance and applicability.

Each toolkit, while sharing the common goal of housing betterment, will offer a unique set of resources, strategies and actionable plans designed to meet specific community needs and challenges. The creation of a robust housing toolkit starts with several important strategic steps: 

• Assemble a working group. Consider who in your region understands the current housing situation and needs and who’s invested in finding housing solutions. Who should be involved and who will be impacted by this process? Involving stakeholders in your process increases the chances that the final toolkit will be useful to them and helps build knowledgeable advocates. Collaboration with stakeholders also increases your knowledge base, helps you anticipate problems and brainstorm realistic solutions, builds commitment via the process and increases your likelihood of developing a successful solution. Stakeholders should come from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests; the toolkit cannot be everything to everyone, but the process should familiarize stakeholders with how the toolkit fits into a broader housing strategy.

• Research. Once the topic of your toolkit has been confirmed, research what exists related to the topic. While communities may not have put together your specific type of toolkit, many have probably tackled the same issue in different ways. Learn from these and incorporate them as appropriate to your community.

• Step back. At some point, it will be easy to try to create a toolkit that’s everything to everyone and addresses every possible concern a community might have. This may dilute the toolkit or make it too generalized. The more focused and specific it can be, offering step-by-step guidance, the more useful it will be to your community or region.

• Confirming with stakeholders. Once the toolkit is complete, return it to your stakeholders for review and provide feedback. Their buy-in and ownership of the toolkit will ensure that it’s useful.

A toolkit may not be the answer for your community or region, but the process of identifying the needs will always be beneficial. The process should engage residents and spark conversations among community leaders, stakeholders and housing advocates. These conversations alone can have positive impacts on a community or region’s housing needs.