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Affordable Housing Development Competition Requirements and Judging

Before registering for the competition, students and developers should review the following submission and judging criteria. For the purposes of the competition, at least 40% of the units should be set aside for households earning no more than 60% of the area median income as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ownership projects should target households earning up to 120% of the area median income to the extent financially feasible. 

Each Proposal Must Include:

A list of the team members and the faculty advisors, as well as the project name and a description of the development sponsor.

An executive summary of the proposal, beginning with a paragraph highlighting the type of development, location, number of units, targeted population and key features of the proposal. As part of this executive summary, include a one-page (maximum) table that lists as bullet points the significant elements in which your proposal meets each of the six judging criteria listed below.

The executive summary should also include an overview of the design and development approaches that were considered, and why you chose the approach you did. 

Please also include a one-page graphic representation of your proposed development (for example, building elevation, rendering, site plan, or another image of your choosing). Together, these summaries will provide a useful framework for the judges to understand and visualize your proposal. 

In addition, the proposal must include the following:

  • A description of the physical setting of the development.
  • A description of the social setting of the development.
  • A description of the goals of the development and the residents to be served.
  • A community outreach plan.
  • A graphic representation of the development, including its setting and the design of the building(s) and individual units. Your team's design mentor should be a great resource for this graphic representation.
  • A funding plan, development budget, and 15-year pro forma (rental, only). Homeownership projects must demonstrate affordability to the buyers (up to 120% of AMI). Front-end debt to income ratios should not exceed 37%.
  • A development timeline.
  • A description of the environmental impact of the proposed development, including the materials used, energy used, and pollutants produced. A description of the "smart growth" aspects of the proposed development. (The Green Homes LISC Boston is a highly recommended reference.)
  • The team's opinion regarding the optimal density for the site and the financial, social, and design implications of the chosen density. Please describe any constraints that would limit developing to the optimal density and strategies for dealing with existing constraints.
  • A description of any training or social services to be provided to residents.
  • A description of the period of projected affordability and the mechanisms designed to preserve the units as affordable over the time period identified.
  • A description of any contribution made to the community other than the provision of affordable housing.
  • A description of any innovative aspects of the plan.
  • A short summary to provide necessary context for any aspects of the proposal that are less than ideal, if applicable (e.g., “Because of higher total development costs than we originally expected, we needed to decrease contingency to remain within max. budget)

File Submission Guidelines

Please submit your proposal as a print-ready PDF file. See specifications below.

  • Page size: letter or legal
  • 0.5" white margin
  • 50 pages maximum

​Your proposal should have a cover page but the second page, which is the inside cover page, should be left blank so that the first content page begins on page 3. This blank page will not count toward your 50-page limit.

NOTE: Final submissions will be printed (double-sided) and bound as a booklet. Any submissions formatted as spreads rather than as individual pages need to still include the 0.5” white margins on the inside edges of the pages to account for binding. Please plan for facing pages and run a trial print to PDF before sending your final submission. 

Judging Criteria

The teams’ submissions are professionally judged, and prize money is awarded to the first, second, and third place teams. The prizes are split between the developers and the student teams.

The judging criteria includes the following:

  • Project financing: 20%
  • Physical design: 20%
  • Responsiveness to community needs:  20%
  • Environmental sensitivity: 20%
  • Feasibility of plan: 10%
  • Innovation: 10%

Overview

Get an overview of how the competition works.

Participants

Review the sponsors, student coordinators, and mentors who are part of the competition.

Timeline

To get a better idea of timing and important deadlines, view this timeline.

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