About Round 1

Round 1 of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is closed. We received more than 400 housing innovation proposals. Round 2 finalists will be announced in early May.

Watch the webinar recording of our virtual information session to learn more.

Three Focus Areas

We invited Round 1 applicants to submit proposals for housing innovations best aligned with one of three focus areas: Construction, Financing, and Access and Resident Support.

Two construction workers wearing yellow vests talking to each other

A woman in a teal dress typing on a keyboard and looking at the computer screen

A room being built inside a warehouse and lifted by a specialized lifting equipment

Construction affordability through creativity, efficiency and resiliency

Construction innovations must introduce transformative practices, processes or new materials that will create construction efficiency, streamline supply chains, bolster climate resiliency, or reduce building costs

A woman at a bank sitting at a desk helping a customer on the other side

Financing: expanding access, increasing resources, and minimizing risk

Financing innovations must introduce new tools or strategies to transform or offer alternatives to current practices, broadening access to capital, unlocking or leveraging financial resources, and creating a more equitable housing market for renters and homebuyers

A woman working with and guiding a man with blindness or low vision using a white cane

Access and Resident Support: expanding choice, improving service delivery and addressing housing injustices

Access and Resident Support innovations must introduce new processes or models that improve the housing experience for residents, such as housing access, choice, and stability, advancing fair housing, promoting personal agency and creating pathways for upward mobility

A community center in the Hilltop neighborhood with a colorful mural on the upper level of the building

We’re not coming in to save the community. The community is strong. And all this deep knowledge lives in their hands, minds and hearts.

Jeffrey Dade, Former Community Development Director, Forterra, 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge Winner

Missed our virtual information session?

Watch the Recording

Criteria

Scoring

Timing

Frequently Asked Questions

All FAQS

We invited a range of organizations to apply, including nonprofits, Tribal organizations, and mission-driven for-profit entities. Applicants were asked to show how their ideas would be implemented in at least one of 38 markets where Wells Fargo and Enterprise can provide additional infrastructure to support implementation and help scale the winning innovations. While each innovation may initially be implemented in a specific jurisdiction or geography, the expectation is that the innovation demonstrates broad applicability and has the potential to replicate in other communities across the United States.

The challenge is a grant competition designed to identify, accelerate, and scale implementation-ready breakthrough ideas that promise new ways to create housing affordability across three focus areas: Construction, Financing, and Access and Resident Support. Administered by Enterprise Community Partners, the challenge is made possible with the generous financial support of Wells Fargo.

No, due to the large number of applications we expect to be submitted, we will not provide specific feedback to organizations whose innovations are not selected to advance to the next round.