Our Development Philosophy

INHS’s mission is to help people with low-and moderate-incomes obtain and remain in high-quality housing that they are able to afford. When the organization was founded in 1976, that meant that our work focused on reversing disinvestment in our community, helping homeowners address deferred maintenance, and revitalizing downtown neighborhoods.  

Over the years, our mission has remained the same, but our work has evolved in response to the changing needs of our community. Today, we are struggling with the reality that more people want to live in the local community than we are able to house; the predictable result being that lower- and moderate-income people are being forced out. Recognizing that housing has increasingly become a regional issue, INHS expanded its service area beyond the City of Ithaca to include all of Tompkins County and additionally Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, and Tioga Counties.  

In response to the expanded demand, INHS also began to develop new projects to increase the supply of affordable units. To date, we have developed over 1,300 affordable homes, both rental and for-sale, thoughout our service area.

What Sets Us Apart

And we aren’t just building to fix a short-term problem, we’re building housing that will last and remain permanently affordable. Our Community Housing Trust creates for-sale homes that allow buyers to build wealth while ensuring affordability for future buyers. Additionally, all of our homes, whether rental or for-sale, are certified under at least one third-party green-building standard, including LEED, Enterprise Green Communities, Energy Star, National Green Building Standard, and various New York State Energy Research and Development Authority programs.

We are dedicated to sustainable housing; from the beginning, sustainability has been part of our building process and our culture.

Our homes and apartments are physically and economically sustainable and will benefit many generations of homeowners and renters.

INHS has become a national leader in the affordable housing field by developing creative solutions to complex problems. Our long-term approach continues to help the counties within the INHS service area improve its housing stock without creating a real estate bubble.

Our Partners

The INHS development team hires private contractors to build all of its housing. This creates jobs and strengthens the local economy by expanding economic activity and increasing the tax base.

INHS is also partnership-oriented, and works closely with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, city, county and state governments to ensure a successful project from beginning to end.

After 40 years we are only getting started. You can be assured that INHS will be around and remain committed to developing affordable housing for present and future generations.

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