With nearly half of American households burdened by the cost of rent, housing affordability is an increasingly salient issue in the United States. Meanwhile, analysts have referred to current government policy as “an expensive band-aid over a gaping hole.” This has driven a search for innovative models. One such model, social housing, has generated “excitement in US housing policy circles,” with policymakers claiming that it “successfully ended housing shortages in jurisdictions around the world.” However, there are two main challenges in assessing whether social housing is the right model for the United States. Firstly, what exactly constitutes “social housing” is unclear. There are a variety of approaches, with varying degrees of state, nonprofit, and market involvement. Secondly, for social housing to work, it needs to be financially feasible. This Note addresses these challenges in turn. To begin, Part I explores both domestic and non-domestic social housing programs to provide a clearer picture of what exactly social housing is—in theory and in practice. Subsequently, Part II presents various tools that policymakers can implement to close the model’s financing gap, particularly in the American context. Finally, Part III analyzes legal strategies that policymakers can use to address a key challenge in the provision of social housing—the cost of land.

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