A safe, affordable home is the cornerstone of the California dream. Providing a full range of housing choices is one of the most fundamental elements of a vibrant and livable community. Unfortunately, the dream is out of economic reach for far too many families in California.

The local housing trust fund is a helpful tool communities can use to make affordable housing a reality for their residents. It provides local officials with a vehicle to coordinate a complex array of state and federal programs to fashion a housing strategy that is tailored to the community’s unique needs, conditions, and political culture.

The purpose of this guide is to increase the understanding of the role that housing trust funds can play in addressing a community’s housing needs. The guide offers local officials information and resources they can use to design or institute a housing trust fund that is best suited to their community’s character and circumstances.

This guide was produced by the Institute for Local Government in 2007.