Our mission is to help local employees secure housing in tourism-based communities across the country through innovative public and private partnerships
Placemate was born from a simple idea: destination communities already have enough housing to meet the needs of their local workforce; it’s just not being efficiently used.
In 2020, California’s Tahoe region saw its already severe housing crisis intensify as the Covid-19 pandemic drove unprecedented demand for second homes and short-term rentals. Amid this disruption, Placemate was founded to help tackle this problem by connecting local residents in need of housing with homeowners ready to convert their underutilized property into a long-term rental.
Placemate partnered with the Town of Truckee to pilot the Lease to Locals program — a first-of-its kind initiative that offers a cash incentive to property owners who begin renting their home on a long-term lease to members of the local workforce.
The pilot proved successful and since 2020 Placemate has steadily expanded to serve destination communities across the country. Today, Placemate partners with local jurisdictions to efficiently house community members by both converting existing housing stock into new long-term rentals through the Lease to Locals program and preserving existing rentals through a second program called Rooted Renters.
The Placemate team is made up of people who live or have lived in these communities themselves, so our work is deeply informed by the needs and realities of the places and residents that we serve.
