President Biden (Photo/Deadline)
By Karen Stokes
President Biden revealed on Tuesday his initiatives aimed at lowering housing expenses, including measures to limit rent increases, building more homes, and revitalizing neighborhoods.
First, Biden is focusing on corporate landlords, urging Congress to offer them a choice: Limit rent hikes on existing units to 5% or potentially forfeit current federal tax benefits.
This policy applies to landlords with more than 50 units, comprising about half of the rental market. It excludes new constructions and recently renovated units to avoid discouraging new housing supply.
The White House will call on Congress to pass a law that would ensure landlords capped rent increases at 5% or face losing out on federal tax breaks.
“President Biden knows that high rents are making it hard for young people to set out on their own and for families to live near good jobs and good schools. One-third of Americans are renters, and the share of renters is even higher for young people and lower-income households,” said National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard in a press call to reporters.
Second, he announced a new government-wide effort to repurpose federal land and other properties to build more affordable housing in Southern Nevada. The federal government is the biggest landowner in the country, and some of its land is currently underutilized or entirely unused. The land would be sold to support building up to 15,000 or more affordable rental and homeowner units.
“The federal government is the biggest landowner in the country, and some of its land is currently underutilized or entirely unused,” said Domestic Policy Adviser Neera Tanden.
“The President is asking federal agencies to address this problem. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now working with local governments in Southern Nevada on additional support, as I noted, and the Biden-Harris administration is also calling on state and local governments and other public entities to follow our lead and consider whether the land they hold may be suitable for housing development.”
“That’s why the President likes to characterize his plan as “build, build, build,” Tanden said. “And we know that we’re already making major progress across the country. More units are under construction during this administration than in the last 50 years. And the rate of new housing starts is up 17 percent compared to the previous administration.”
The opportunity is massive. A new analysis released estimates the development potential of underutilized state and local government land near transit locations at roughly 1.9 million units.
And third, Biden has called for rehabilitating distressed housing and revitalizing neighborhoods as officials work to build more affordable housing.
“HUD is announcing $325 million in Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants, which is funding communities across the country to build more homes and revitalize neighborhoods that have been left behind. That funding will go towards Choice Neighborhoods. This funding goes to the largest place-based program that exists within the federal government,” said Tanden.
“The Choice Neighborhoods program has transformed communities nationwide. With each year’s annual appropriations, HUD is looking to expand the program’s reach to as many communities as possible,” Tanden said.
The president’s housing agenda prioritizes building more new units to bring down the cost of housing over time. Already, state and local governments have invested nearly $20 billion from the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for housing. And those federal investments have contributed to the 1.7 million housing units under construction, which is a 50-year high.
In what experts have called “the most consequential” housing plan and more than 50 years,” the president has called for the construction of 2 million new affordable units across the country.
“Families deserve affordable housing—it’s part of the American Dream. Rent is too high and buying a home is out of reach for too many working families and young Americans, after decades of failure to build enough homes. I’m determined to turn that around,” said Biden in a statement.
The president’s housing agenda prioritizes building more new units to bring down the cost of housing over time. Already, state and local governments have invested nearly $20 billion from the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for housing. And those federal investments have contributed to the 1.7 million housing units under construction, which is a 50-year high.
An NBC poll indicated that 23% of registered voters found inflation and the cost of living to be the most important issue facing the country.