Case Study, Part 1: A Data Hub for Affordable Housing

Published in

Impact Hub Austin | Affordability Accelerator

5 min readOct 16, 2018

How We Got Here

As a nonprofit consortium of organizations, businesses, and individuals committed to leveraging technology for urban progress, Austin CityUP works closely with Austin’s mayor, city council and city agencies. Our shared goal is to identify and execute “smart city” projects that leverage technology, and the data it generates or collects, to improve systems, programs, and services.

And in Austin, no matter how you slice the data — no matter how many surveys you conduct, no matter how many focus group pizzas you buy or online polls you facilitate — the results are the same.

Austin has an affordability crisis.

There is strong cross-sector support for a smart city solution that reduces the inefficiencies in Austin’s affordable housing market, processes, and systems. A single mother seeking affordable housing has little to no real-time insight into available units for her family; when low-income renters aren’t able to quickly and easily determine whether affordable units are available, that can keep them from going to school, working, and contributing to Austin’s rich social, cultural and economic life.

This series follows the Austin CityUP Housing Committee as we apply smart city principles and practices to the thorny problem of affordable housing.

The Timeline

2016: Austin CityUP formed, with IBM a founding organization

August 2016: Austin CityUP Workshops with City Agency: Neighborhood Housing & Community Development (NHCD) agency describes the problem.

September 2016: Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) and Austin Pathways provide additional background.

October 2016: IBM hosts an Austin CityUP collaboration workshop in the Design Studio with more than 75 attendees, where the top priority projects are selected for official committee formation. Not surprisingly, transportation and affordable housing are the top two priorities.

November 2016 to May 2017: The Affordable Housing Committee progresses through different business models, solutions around the country, and potential data sources. NHCD and HACA continue to communicate the possible solutions to the city leaders, gaining support. The committee membership grows and is connected at the state and national levels. HUD shows interest.

June 2017: Several city council members decide to bring forward a Resolution to fund the committee’s technology recommendation of an Affordable Housing Data Hub, and work begins on drafting the wording.

August 2017: After several workshops, the Resolution is passed and the City Manager is directed to implement the first phase of the committee’s recommendation within 120 days, and provide sufficient analysis for budget planning for 2018.

September 2017: The Housing Committee co-chairs, Ron Baker from IBM and Catherine Crago from HACA, form the project team for the Affordable Housing Data Hub and begin work. Existing partners NHCD, HACA, and Austin Pathways are joined by experts from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at University of Texas at Austin, Code for America, CoStar, GoSection8, Mobility Blueprint, and more.

April 2018: After months of extensive market review of potential solutions, business models, and the data required to best serve housers, affordable housing renters, and policy makers, Austin CityUP hosts a public Solutions Design Workshop. Solution providers, affordable housing stakeholders, and smart city innovators join the Housing Committee and the data hub project team to learn about the City of Austin’s goals to improve resources for renters, to evaluate national and local commercial solutions to similar challenges, and to share assets and perspectives that could be applied to the Austin market.

August 2018: The Affordable Housing Data Hub project applies to the Impact Hub Affordability Accelerator to address two primary issues: the accuracy of the affordable housing list and a sustainable business model.

September-December 2018: The data hub is accepted into the accelerator and the team begins work with pitch coaches, investors, design experts, and other mentors. The target is to deliver a minimum viable product by December 17.

Project Goals

Goal #1: For a household seeking affordable housing, provide an immediate prioritized list of currently available locations that best meet their needs, based on the following conditions:

is currently available, with a high enough degree of accuracy to save significant time compared to cold-calling
is willing to accept Section 8 vouchers
provides the best commute options to a specified set of locations, prioritized by the applicant; initially based on distance, and augmented by historical route planning analysis and overall transportation cost
satisfy additional location criteria, prioritized by the applicant

Goal #2: Provide a set of key performance indicators for a local housing authority to monitor its progress as well as insights that help determine policy with the following performance areas:

Section 8 compliance scoring for households in transition, duration of transition
percentage of housing stock affordability by income range

Goal #3: Incent property owners and investors to provide affordable housing options, and give them insights to keep properties occupied and profitable with the following insights:

Free services combined with value-add services
What are consumers looking for? How does their property compare to the current trends on desired preferences?
Percentage of housing stock affordability by income range

Goal #4: Minimize the movement of school age children between different school districts due to housing issues, with the following insights:

School moves and missed days directly correlate to reduced student performance and graduation rates.
Provide assistance for school guidance counselors to help families with affordable housing resources.
School funding from the state is based on number of attendance days, so moving out of a school costs money and puts budget planning at risk for programs.