Building Generational Wealth and Greater Wellbeing through New and Better Homes

About this Project 

Habitat Capital was created in 2017 as a community development financial institution to address barriers to homeownership, including the rising cost of land and construction and the complexity of and lack of financing options for buyers with low incomes.  

Habitat Capital provides low-cost, flexible loans to independently operated Habitat for Humanity International affiliates, enabling them to acquire land, finance home construction, and build or preserve affordable housing and community facilities. Habitat affiliates also provide affordable and high-quality mortgages to households with low incomes.  

A $10 million loan from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) will support Habitat Capital’s pilot enterprise loan product and research into the feasibility and development of a potential home repair loan program, described in more detail below. 

Learn more about Habitat Capital. 

Challenge

Homeownership can be a path to building generational wealth, creating stability for households and communities, and fostering health and wellbeing. However, for many people in the U.S., particularly those with low incomes and people of color, the benefits of homeownership are out of reach because of the rising costs of mortgage loans and construction, disrepair, foreclosures, liens, title issues, and predatory investors.  

As of 2025, the housing shortage in the U.S. exceeded 4 million homes. This growing gap has been intensified by a declining number of affordable homebuilders, rising costs for land and financing, and limited meaningful policy or systemic reforms to address the crisis. 

Solution

Habitat is committed to ensuring that people can buy and live in safe, affordable homes across the U.S. Habitat Capital makes this possible by providing loans to local Habitat affiliates who help families with low incomes access affordable mortgages. RWJF’s investment will help create two new loan products that will be provided to Habitat affiliates:   

• Enterprise loans will provide low-cost, flexible lines of credit to Habitat affiliates through a quick underwriting process. The product can be used by affiliates of all sizes and locations and will allow for greater competition against for-profit developers.   
• Habitat is also conducting a feasibility analysis of a home repair loan fund to explore ways to expand access to affordable home preservation financing. This initiative complements Habitat’s existing home preservation programs, which are critical to ensuring that families can continue to live in safe, decent homes for years to come. 

Of the $10 million RWJF investment, at least $2.5 million of the enterprise loans will be allocated to New Jersey-based affiliates. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is another investor in the enterprise loan program, focused on funding for California-based affiliates. 

Both initiatives highlight new approaches to creating and preserving homeownership. Enterprise loans aim to increase community-based organizations’ access to capital and increase affordable homeownership opportunities in low-income communities. More broadly, this work to expand access to homeownership and preservation efforts will help build household stability, health, and wellbeing. 

In the Spotlight 

Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity received a $500,000 revolving line of credit to support its work to increase access to affordable homeownership. It has historically averaged building one to two homes per year and is looking to leverage additional support from Habitat Capital to ramp up this production. This line of credit will allow Raritan Valley to more effectively use state and federal funding to deepen its impact and increase the number of houses it builds. 

Habitat Capital’s Impact Goals

• Access and capacity: Enterprise loans that fund the development of over 50 homes per year and support increasing access to home repairs. 
• Proof of concept: Demonstrate to investors the catalytic impact of enterprise loans that provide flexible financing for small, community-based Habitat affiliates to advance racial equity, prevent displacement and create homeownership.  
• New approach: Home repair loans that exemplify for the sector how to finance home repairs in a way that protects and preserves homeownership and advances housing equity.