04/08/2026
Religious groups own more than 2.6 million acres of underutilized land across the U.S., enough to support 800,000 new homes. A growing movement called YIGBY, Yes in God's Backyard, is turning that opportunity into affordable housing. In Boise, ID, where home prices have surged 67.4% since 2019, nonprofit LEAP Housing partners with congregations to build on church land through long-term ground leases, often for just $1 a year. The first project converted a church parking lot into two family homes renting at 50% below market rate.