The Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge, an initiative of the National League of Cities and the American Planning Association, is a nationwide network designed to accelerate the implementation of proven and innovative housing strategies and expand the supply of housing in communities across the country. 

Rooted in action and results, the challenge will support local leaders to put the Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook: Solutions, Systems, Partnerships into practice. Participating communities will gain access to best practices, technical assistance, housing supply experts and a peer exchange.  

Ready to Accelerate Your Community Local Housing Supply? 

 Start by completing the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge Self-Assessment—a 15-question quiz that evaluates your community’s readiness in key areas including: 

• Political leadership and will 
• Current housing policies and practices
• Funding strategies 
• Public-private partnerships 
• Sustainability and infrastructure 
• Land use and zoning regulations 

Program Scope 

Through the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge, the National League of Cities and the American Planning Association will accept up to 60 communities annually. Applications for the challenge will be accepted on a rolling basis. 

Based on your responses, your community may be selected to join the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge and receive one of three designations: Adopter, Accelerator, or Innovator. 

• Adopter(s): Communities that are starting to understand the depth of their local housing supply challenges.
• Accelerator(s): Communities that have adopted and implemented housing strategies with specific recommendations for addressing housing supply deficiencies and have established formalized public-private collaborations to overcome these challenges.
• Innovator(s): Communities that have been addressing their housing challenges through innovative, risk-informed policies and practices, and are coordinating funding and resources through effective and strong public-private partnerships.

Based on the designation, your community will have access to: 

• The Housing Supply Accelerator framework to accelerate your community’s housing supply work.
• Tools to identify needs, implement changes and evaluate your community’s impact. 
• Access to timely technical assistance and coaching by housing supply experts. 
• Information on local, regional and national grant opportunities 
• National recognition from National League of Cities and the American Planning Association.
   

Participation Requirements 

• Be an active participant in the Housing Supply Challenge for the next 18 months.  
• Utilize the Housing Supply Accelerator Framework and apply lessons to your local context. 
• Identify at least two (2) city staff members to serve as lead participants for the city’s involvement, with additional participation from across city departments, agencies, and local community partner organizations highly encouraged. 
• Complete an initial onboarding survey, periodic progress reports and a final feedback survey at the end of each technical assistance offering. 

About Housing Supply Accelerator  

A partnership between the National League of Cities (NLC) and the American Planning Association (APA), the Housing Supply Accelerator was created to help communities tackle their local housing challenges. The campaign is narrowly focused on identifying locally driven housing supply solutions that expand, preserve and improve the quantity and quality of housing. 

Have a question not answered here? 

Contact the team at housing@nlc.org with any additional questions. 

Up to six cities will be selected for this project. Only one application per municipality will be considered and must be submitted with the full support of the mayor and/or city manager. Interested applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit a letter of interest from their Mayor or City Manager by Tuesday, June 3. 

All proposals must be submitted online by 11:59 PM PT on June 30, 2025. 

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Olga Kozlova, Senior Program Specialist at kozlova@nlc.org. 

Up to six cities will be selected for this project. Only one application per municipality will be considered and must be submitted with the full support of the mayor and/or city manager. Interested applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit a letter of interest from their Mayor or City Manager by Tuesday, June 3. 

All proposals must be submitted online by 11:59 PM PT on June 30, 2025. 

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Megan Greig, Senior Program Specialist at greig@nlc.org. 

The National League of Cities is excited to offer a scholarship to local leaders to participate in Local Solutions to Ending Homelessness, a NLC University’s course, at no cost. 

Through this course, local leaders will gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex factors driving homelessness in U.S. cities and explore evidence-based solutions to create meaningful change in your community. This course is specifically designed for local leaders seeking to develop and implement effective solutions.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 

• Identify the primary driver of homelessness: Understand that the fundamental cause of homelessness is the shortage of affordable housing. 
• Distinguish individual vulnerabilities from root causes: Recognize how individual      vulnerabilities (e.g., mental health, substance use, adverse childhood experience) increase the risk of homelessness but are not the root cause. 
• Recognize disparities in homelessness: Due to longstanding racial discrimination, Black, Hispanic or Latino/a/x, and Indigenous people are disproportionately more likely to      experience homelessness than white Americans.  
• Evaluate effective solutions: Learn and assess the most impactful solutions and strategies for addressing and ending homelessness in their communities. 

This scholarship is aimed at local leaders from small (under 50,000) to mid-size cities (up to 200,000) interested in deepening their understanding of the root causes of homelessness and proven solutions to ending homelessness. 

We are seeking mayors, council members and policy advisors that are both new to engaging in the issue of homelessness and seasoned practitioners. 

Selected applicants will have the cost of the course and course materials ($500) covered. Participants will be expected to engage in and participate throughout the five-module course. Each module is 75 minutes long and will begin at 3:00 p.m. EST.

The application deadline is Friday, August 15, 2025.

Have a question not answered here?

Contact the team at housing@nlc.org with any additional questions.