The role of the third sector in community housing: A policy analysis

Policy research on the provision of housing in the United States has traditionally focused on the roles of the private and public sectors. A "third" sector, composed of nonprofit and voluntary organizations, is also a factor but its significance has not been adequately incorporated in research on housing policy. From a public policy perspective, attention to the third sector is necessary, in particular during decreased government response to private market failures in housing provision.;In many communities, the initiative to meet a range of housing needs comes from third sector organizations, especially for socially and economically marginal groups and those with nontraditional needs. However, systematic and comparative research on third sector housing output and how it might be integrated into housing policy requires a conceptual and methodological framework that differs from dominant mainstream research.;This study uses a three-sector analytic framework that incorporates the private, public, and third sectors and the variety of linkages that exist among them in the provision, financing, and production of housing. Analysis is conducted at the community level to fully understand the housing needs of a population and the range of responses to these needs. It was necessary to conduct a case study as a first step in building micro-level research in housing.;Using Wilmington as the focus of study, twenty-eight nonprofit housing-related organizations were identified and data were gathered on their organizational characteristics, the type of services provided, and linkages with the other sectors. The third sector provides almost all of the emergency and transitional housing facilities. In addition, it has produced close to 6 percent of the city's long-term housing. It also is the primary source of support services that increase people's access to housing opportunities and their ability to maintain their housing. Housing provision in the city is the product of a complex network of organizational interaction characterized by the third sector's strong linkages with the public sector and emerging linkages with the private sector. In this time of federal withdrawal from housing, the third sector has assumed a leadership role, coordinating services and initiating policy for the provision of affordable housing. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).