A study approved by the Penn State Institutional Review Board found that Asset-Framing® increased landlords’ willingness to rent to people in need of mobility vouchers by 21% in Pittsburgh.

Mobility Vouchers and rental assistance programs make housing affordable to more people and can improve the health of those communities. However, they only work if the landlords are willing to rent to the people who qualify, who are typically just labeled as ‘poor’ or ‘low income.’

Researchers found that exposing landlords to an asset-framed narrative that highlighted the social, economic, and health benefits of receiving a mobility voucher increased landlords’ reported willingness to rent to a mobility voucher recipient. Participation was also higher among landlords who believed that housing affordability was connected to health.

The Pittsburgh study findings demonstrate that simply using Asset-Framing the appeal can increase access to affordable housing by 21%.

Support for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action program. To read the full results, please visit www.healthaffairs.org.