A plan to substantially increase the nation’s housing stock in the next 5 years, particularly when it comes to affordable units, has just been released by the Biden Administration.
Officially called the Housing Supply Action Plan, the initiative is particularly focused on using new financing mechanisms to build as well as preserve more housing, while also making loans more available for multifamily development projects.
According to a White House press release, “Fewer new homes were built in the decade following the Great Recession than in any decade since the 1960s—constraining housing supply and failing to keep pace with demand and household formation.”
In response, the President wants to see the construction of more new homes, while “preserving federally-supported and market-rate affordable housing, ensuring that total new units do not merely replace converted or dilapidated units that get demolished.”
Other key components of Biden’s plan include the rewarding of jurisdictions that have reformed their zoning and land-use policies; and combining the efforts of both the public sector and private sector to address supply chain challenges and improve building techniques.
In a statement, Diane Yentel, chief executive officer of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, lauded the Administration’s “commitment to using federal transportation funds to reduce restrictive local zoning laws, which can inhibit or prohibit the construction of apartments and are often deeply rooted in racial exclusion.”
National Association of Home Builders Chairman Jerry Konter similarly praised the Biden proposal but added that it “does not go far enough to resolve the many underlying challenges facing the home building industry, including skyrocketing costs for lumber and other building materials, and the broader supply chain crisis.”
In a separate move, the President has urged Congress to pass legislation offering tax credits to both build and rehab homes for lower and middle-income buyers. That legislation has yet to win approval on Capitol Hill.
By Garry Boulard
