What We Do

PeopleTrust partners with non-profit and for-profit housing developers to provide sustainable homeownership for low- to moderate-income households. PeopleTrust provides homes to families with household incomes ranging between 50% and 80% of the median family income for Central Texas. Approximately 50,000 households in Austin fall within this income bracket. PeopleTrust addresses the community’s growing concern with decreased access to homeownership in the central city where rapidly increasing housing prices and stagnant wages render housing unaffordable to working families.

PeopleTrust's shared equity homeownership program contains selection criteria designed to serve eligible families most in need. The basic rule for home affordability is that a family spends no more than 30% of its income on housing costs. Potential homebuyers are screened based on income and asset criteria, ensuring the program serves those families who could not otherwise afford to purchase a home in the Austin area. PeopleTrust serves families making no more than 80% of median family income. In order to target those most likely to be excluded from homeownership consideration for families with school-aged children, disabled households, and the elderly are also part of the homebuyer screening process.