Housing Toolkit
Housing is Where Jobs Sleep
The Wyoming Business Council collaborates with other state agencies and various stakeholders – public, private and nonprofit – to tackle local, regional, and statewide quality-of-life issues and opportunities that have an economic development component.
Specifically related to the challenges affecting housing across the state, the WBC team works closely with the Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA) and others to understand better the problem and develop possible solutions.
Mission
Help communities successfully address common struggles by developing tools and a team that can provide resources, information, and a map leading to action. See the strategic plan here.
Find a Regional Director to Access Community Resources
Attainable Housing
This toolkit is the compilation of many hours of collective work from various parties. It will continue to be updated as more resources are identified. For more information, please reach out to the advisory board located at the bottom of this website.
The goal of the housing toolkit is to assist communities in discussing the importance of attainable housing. Attainable housing isn’t just an issue of lack of places to live – it’s an issue with having a strong economy. In order to attract and retain jobs, there must also be a place for these employees to live. This toolkit will explain the issues surrounding attainable housing, as well as provide resources to guide communities through the journey to provide adequate housing.
What causes a lack of attainable housing?
Missing middle/workplace housing
The missing middle refers to buildings with multiple units, such as duplexes or triplexes. These buildings have typically been illegal to build since the 1940s so they are considered “missing” from new building stock. Some of the characteristics of this type of housing include walkability, smaller building footprints, and smaller units. These housing types are typically more marketable because they are more affordable.
Age/condition of housing
Because the private sector struggles to construct new homes in the “missing middle”, the condition of the existing housing stock declines. Some of these problems can be addressed through code enforcement. Many towns have properties that are considered an eyesore. It may be that city official are hesitant to give property owners a citation, or they just may not understand how to begin addressing the issue.
Shortage of homes to rent
Since new construction has halted on homes in the missing middle, there is more competition for rental properties and prices are higher for existing rental properties. In addition, developers are not constructing properties designed for renting, such as duplexes or multi-family dwellings.
Housing is not seen as a public sector issue
Traditionally, housing has been seen as the domain of the private sector. Politicians have only seen housing as an issue of the government in the form of public housing. Constituents in communities nationwide are calling on county elected officials to reduce the burdens of housing costs that force residents to relocate to more affordable neighborhoods. Although housing affordability is a shared priority across the country, available options to promote affordability vary widely between counties.
What to do about the lack of attainable housing?
This issue is more complex than just involving housing. Therefore, attainable housing is so important in the overall picture of economic development. The discussion of job creation in communities must also involve the discussion of adequate housing for a community. Available housing for all income groups helps a community retain jobs and helps business owners retain quality employees.
One way to address the condition of properties is through proper code enforcement. This could be as simple as strengthening already existing property maintenance ordinances or it could be bringing in a code enforcement official. While this may take some training or recruitment on the front end, the long-term benefit of improvement of distressed neighborhoods and a long-term plan or guideline to maintaining properties will be beneficial to creating a sustainable community development plan.
This problem needs a multi-prong approach. It may involve a partnership with local developers, or individuals within your community. It may be that a non-profit within your community take the lead on this.
Advocacy through local government, as well as non-profit statewide organizations, is an important part of putting housing issues in front of politicians. National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) is the national organization for housing that provides many resources for advocacy.
A newer solution is developing a community land trust. A community land trust is a nonprofit organization that is the steward of community assets and provides attainable housing opportunities for families. Their primary goal is ensuring families can purchase affordable homes, these homes remain affordable should they go back on the market, and to offer educational opportunities for the families to help them maintain their properties and grow as homeowners.
This “shared equity homeownership” works through households who have an income below the local AMI but are still able to qualify for a mortgage. They purchase the home at an affordable price and lease the land from the Community Land Trust. If the homeowners decide to sell, they can keep all the equity plus a portion of the increase in value. The Community Land Trust manages the resale process, to ensure the home remains attainable. There are nearly 250 Community Land Trusts in the United States; 79% of residents are first-time homeowners, and 82% of residents report income less than 50% of the area median.
What happens if a lack of attainable housing isn’t addressed?
f employees have no place to live where they work, it will be harder to draw business into towns. Job creation is strongest if workers reside in the community. Employees who can live near their place of employment are better able to report to work on time while also having time to improve their job skills, get an education, or spend time with their families.
Neighborhoods will continue to become distressed and community pride will decrease. For the continued success of your town, the condition of housing and code enforcement is a vital part of the picture.
Financial Tools
Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door sales program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a discount of 50 percent from the list price of the home. In return, you must commit to live in the property for 36 months, as your sole residence.
Wyoming Community Development Authority
For 41 years, Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA) has been making it easier for people across Wyoming to finance their first home.
We provide low-interest single-family mortgages and education to help our customers buy and retain their homes. We also offer special programs to aid in the sustainability of homeownership. From our down payment assistance program to homebuyer education and counseling, to our partnerships with developers and our work with nonprofit community organizations, WCDA is the state’s leading resource for housing finance.
Preservation and creation of affordable housing, homeowner and homebuyer education.
We are committed to helping improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. We help rural Americans in many ways through our programs.
We offer loans, grants and loan guarantees to support essential services such as housing, economic development, health care, first responder services and equipment, and water, electric and communications infrastructure.
We promote economic development by supporting loans to businesses through banks, credit unions and community-managed lending pools. We offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural producers and cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their operations.
We provide technical assistance to help communities undertake community empowerment programs. We help rural residents buy or rent safe, affordable housing and make health and safety repairs to their homes.
Affordable Rental Housing (Income limits may apply)
Resources
In Wyoming, rising housing costs put pressure on families, local workers, and small communities alike. When there are too few homes that fit local needs and budgets, people are forced elsewhere, communities lose the people they rely on, and local economies feel the strain.
Wyoming’s housing shortage comes from policy choices, and we can solve them. Communities across the state can protect what makes Wyoming strong by offering a wider range of housing options that fit existing neighborhoods and help neighbors remain close to their work, schools, and one another.
The Self-Sufficiency Calculator for Wyoming
Use the Self-Sufficiency Calculator to determine how much income is required to meet basic needs, with the amount varying by family composition and geographic location.
This tool can be used in a variety of ways—by clients of workforce and training programs seeking paths to self-sufficiency, by program managers to evaluate program effectiveness, and by policymakers and legislators seeking to create programs and pathways that lead to self-sufficiency for working families.
Connect to help when you need it. We make it easy to connect you to resources for food, job training, rent & utility assistance, and so much more.
Housing studies are completed to satisfy a lender or provide information to a developer. Housing studies can range from simple (with limited but specific information needed) to comprehensive (with extensive and wide-ranging information needed).
Identifying housing needs often starts with a healthy dose of community opinions, personal perspectives, and spotty rumor-based assumptions. Make sure a proposed project will benefit from a housing study and determine the type of study needed before engaging a contractor.
Albany County Housing & Land Trust
The Albany County Housing & Land Trust (ACHLT) is more than a traditional community land trust. While we proudly steward permanently affordable homes, our mission extends further—to accelerate the creation of all quality housing across Albany County, regardless of whether those homes enter the land trust portfolio.
ACHLT serves as a bridge between every part of the housing ecosystem:
Developers: connecting projects with land, financing tools, gap funding, incentives, and streamlined coordination
Lenders & Funders: providing confidence through long-term stewardship and financial partnerships
Local Government: aligning housing development with county and municipal goals, zoning, infrastructure, and strategic planning
Employers & Institutions: supporting workforce housing solutions
Residents & Homebuyers: ensuring access, education, and pathways to stable housing
Affordable Housing – Teton County
The Teton County Housing Department works to create healthy housing solutions so its workforce can live, spend, and volunteer locally, maintaining the community character we all cherish.
Their Work
- Public-Private Partnerships to develop deed-restricted housing.
- Management of current deed-restricted housing stock. This includes sales, resales, rentals, and compliance.
- Technical Assistance for the private development community.
- Community Programs that help working households live in stable, local housing.
Sheridan County Housing and Land Trust
The Sheridan County Housing Land Trust is a not-for-profit under Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Bighorn’s 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization.
A Housing Land Trust (most commonly known as a Community Land Trust) acquires and holds land for the benefit of the community, ensuring that housing remains permanently affordable.
By establishing the HLT, Habitat for Humanity aims to preserve affordable homeownership opportunities for generations to come and stabilize housing costs to prevent displacement in our community. Additionally, this will foster a sense of ownership and community engagement among residents.
Qualified Housing Market Studies
Housing studies are completed to satisfy a lender or provide information to a developer. Housing studies can range from simple (with limited but specific information needed) to comprehensive (with extensive and wide-ranging information needed).
Identifying housing needs often starts with a healthy dose of community opinions, personal perspectives, and spotty rumor-based assumptions. Make sure a proposed project will benefit from a housing study and determine the type of study needed before engaging a contractor.
Success Stories
Discover downtown Sheridan living spaces.
Country Homes Best Practices: Moving on Up
A successful project for low-income families purchasing a home.