Housing Initiative (2026) is sponsored by Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT). This initiative is a five-year, $50 million commitment to invest in neighborhoods and increase housing access across North Texas. CFT's approach spans production, preservation, and partnerships & policy to grow the housing supply and keep existing homes affordable and safe.

Strategic Initiative In Housing | CFT Community Impact > Strategic Housing Initiative Collaborating, convening, and co-investing in neighborhoods to build sustainable communities One of the reasons that the prices of houses and apartments have outpaced incomes is because the region is not producing enough housing to meet demand. As a result, the average home in DFW costs more than four times the median household income.

We must work together to address our local housing crisis to better meet our community’s needs. Investing in Sustainable Neighborhoods North Star: Sustainable Communities​ Communities thrive when residents at every income level have secure housing, a strong education, a voice in their community, a sense of safety, and access to resources that improve their health and well-being.

Over the next five years, CFT has committed $50 million towards a new Housing Impact Fund, with a vision to reach $100 million through the support of partners. This fund will deliver low-cost, recyclable capital to the local housing sector. In the past several months, CFT has granted more than $4 million in funding aligned with our strategy pillars.

Grantees include: buildingcommunityWORKSHOP Dallas Community Land Trust Dallas Economic Development Corporation Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund / LISC Frazier Revitalization, Inc. Greater Dallas Planning Council Texas Education Opportunity Fund (TEOF) Innovative Construction Methods Our strategy’s “production” pillar centers around increasing the supply of new homes that are accessible to more people.

This includes partnerships with mission-aligned community developers and builders, incubating innovative construction methods, and providing access to low-cost capital through new loan funds, including the use of program-related investments (PRIs). PRIs serve as recyclable philanthropic capital, expected to be paid back by a certain time, usually at a below-market interest rate.

When we invest in innovative construction, we have the ability to provide not only a home, but also jobs in the economy of the future. CFT’s Housing Impact Fund will enable developers to build more homes, often using innovative construction methods, to meet community needs.

Spotlight on Preservation: Dallas Community Land Trust Established in partnership with The Real Estate Council (TREC) and JP Morgan Chase, the Dallas Community Land Trust (CLT) is a new form of home ownership in Dallas that unlocks the dream of home ownership for more and more families. The Dallas CLT is a shared equity model ensuring that the home remains affordable permanently.

It builds generational wealth for the families that move into CLT homes, and it also keeps the home affordable for the next family. Frazier Revitalization recently contributed the first two homes to the Dallas CLT. How a Community land trust works Part of CFT’s housing strategy focuses on protecting permanent affordability through a C ommunity Land Trust , known as a CLT.

Spotlight on Partnership: HouseDTX A cornerstone of CFT’s housing initiative is to convene public and private sectors through partnership. HouseDTX was created to coordinate the great efforts of so many across our city. This alliance of community leaders is working together to advance effective housing policy and practices.

In its first year, HouseDTX will include three working groups: a funder’s collective led by CFT where we will invite philanthropy, banks, and City officials to help developers access capital; an advocacy group grounded in the work of the Dallas Housing Coalition; and a Planning and Policy group led by the Greater Dallas Planning Council that will be presenting a set of housing recommendations our City can adopt.

HouseDTX intends to release a housing scorecard next year that will track progress towards filling housing gaps and stabilizing housing stock. Housing Strategy Featured Partners Los Angeles: A Cautionary Tale Shane Phillips, author of The Affordable City , explains how slowed homebuilding in the Los Angeles metro area led to skyrocketed housing costs.

Dallas is on the same trajectory; homebuilding has slowed significantly while our population has only increased. The purpose of CFT’s Housing Impact Fund is to help us change course through embracing innovative homebuilding models, adding to the Dallas Community Land Trust to make home ownership more accessible, and convening partners across our city to more rapidly solve our housing crisis. "Housing is foundational for a family.

When we look at the state of housing in the city of Dallas, we find a tremendous shortage of affordable rental units for our lowest income renters. We see a big mismatch between supply and demand. Lack of housing affordability can escalate."

"We're on a troubling trend. We are something like 30 or 40 years behind Southern California. We didn't build fast enough to keep up with very rapid growth in the demand to live in North Texas.

We have a number of our residents living in, by modern standards, homes and units that aren’t fit for human habitation, and in other cases just not nearly as good as we might hope for in our city. The factors that can attract business and attract people can come to an end. So if we lose enough of our pricing edge, we too will experience that problem."

George W. Bush Institute - SMU Growth Initiative "Right now, local educators and first responders can’t afford to live comfortably in our city. If we can’t even take care of those who take care of us, we’re failing."

Chair, Board of Trustees, Communities Foundation of Texas "We need a myriad of solutions. We need financial models. We need ownership models in order to overcome our future dynamics of housing...

CFT has always been willing to invest in an idea and invest in people that can help make a change." Investments in Housing Press Release Housing Strategy Partner Spotlights D CEO Magazine : A $100 Million Bet on Affordable Housing in Dallas D Magazine: How Dallas Leaders Aim to Fix the City’s Affordable Housing Problem Through Policy D Magazine – FrontBurner : Could a $100M Fund Help Relieve Dallas’ Affordable Housing Problem?

Dallas Business Journal : Communities Foundation of Texas launches $50M housing initiative to tackle affordability issues Dallas Innovates: Communities Foundation of Texas Launches $50M Initiative to Tackle Dallas’ Housing Crisis Dallas Morning News : Communities Foundation of Texas launches $50 million housing initiative NBC 5 : Communities Foundation of Texas Launches $50M Dallas Housing Initiative NBC 5 : Millions pledged to grow Dallas housing The Lab Report Dallas: These Stories Will Shape Dallas in 2026 WFAA : Communities Foundation of Texas aims to make housing more accessible in North Texas WFAA: Dallas’ affordable housing supply is evaporating, report finds White Rock Lake Weekly: Funds to address city’s housing challenges Is there a housing crisis in Dallas?

Yes. Dallas does not have enough housing to accommodate our growing population. Because of this limited supply, home prices and rent have increased substantially over the past ten years.

This has resulted in a shortage of workforce and attainable housing for Dallas residents. What has CFT done so far to alleviate the housing crisis? CFT has committed $50 million over the next five years as part of this new strategic initiative, and in the past several months, has granted more than $4 million in aligned grant funding.

We hope that our commitment will inspire an additional $50 million from partners to create a $100 million Housing Impact Fund. CFT is a member of the founding board of the Dallas Community Land Trust, which will help make home ownership more accessible to lower-income families. CFT is convening leaders of housing efforts across the city through the launch of the HouseDTX alliance.

Is CFT changing its mission to focus on housing? No. Our vision is a thriving community for all. Our mission remains to improve the lives of all people in our community by investing in their health, wealth, living, and learning.

Investing in h ousing is an opportunity to impact each of these focus areas, increase economic mobility, and spark systemic change. Join us and other funders, advocates, planners, and community leaders to expand access to housing in Dallas.