University of Florida, Shimberg Center for Housing Studies

The Shim berg Center for Housing Studies was established by the Florida legislature to act as the state's hub for affordable housing research and to help facilitate the provision of safe, decent, and affordable housing and related community development throughout the state. The grant helps establish a community of university-based housing researchers to promote collaboration among academics on research agendas, data access, and operating centers dedicated to housing policy and market analysis. The new network will work with the broader affordable housing industry, including government housing agencies, to identify applied research projects that promote the production and preservation of affordable rental housing.

The Foundation’s How Housing Matters to Families and Communities competitive research program is a multi-year effort to build a body of evidence to guide U.S. housing policy and practice. Far fewer resources are dedicated to energy efficiency improvement for multifamily housing than for single-family homes, although low-income renters pay more than half their income for housing and utilities, leaving little for savings, education and other necessities. The Shimberg Center for Housing Studies will examine utility data for government-assisted housing to measure tenants’ energy costs and residential stability and to identify subsidy, property and household characteristics associated with high energy consumption.

In support of an early-warning system for the preservation of affordable rental housing (over three years).

To support data collection for local and state-wide preservation efforts in Florida and the development of a national data infrastructure for housing preservation (over eighteen months).