Goldenberg, Matthew2024-04-072024-04-072024https://hdl.handle.net/1813/114827The housing shortage is a pressing issue in the United States, with the situation showing little signs of improvement. The distribution of missing units as a percentage of available supply trends is not evenly distributed by state. Most heartland states east of the Mississippi River see rates of less than 10%. Conversely, California stands at 31%, with Washington, Oregon, Florida, and New York trailing at 26%, 22%, 20%, and 18% respectively (Corinth & Dante, 2022, p. 11). This paper presents faith-based housing as an underutilized resource that, if tapped, would serve to lessen the negative effects of the housing shortage. Core to this position is a quantitative argument that churches and other houses of worship can operate housing more efficiently due to their general exemptions from property taxes, and their ability to realize below market basis for land acquisition costs. This paper does not posit that faith-based housing could in of itself alleviate the housing shortage. As such, this paper is directed towards readers, notably built environment professionals, who are seeking an additional tool which can complement an existing portfolio of housing gap closure measures.Faith-based housinghousing shortageother