New legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives calling for a tax credit to spur affordable rental housing for working Americans.
In presenting what is officially called the Workforce Housing Tax Credit, Oregon Democrat Senator Ron Wyden remarked: “Right now, America’s nurses, firefighters, and teachers are struggling to find affordable housing near the communities they serve.”
“More must be done to fill the ‘missing middle’ between low-income housing and million-dollar homes,” Wyden continued.
By establishing what he said is a “middle income tax credit,” Wyden said the legislation will “guarantee more housing.” In addition, the bill will “help housing finance agencies best meet the needs of their individual communities.”
As designed, the legislation would make it possible for state housing agencies to issue credit allocations to various developers that could then be sold to investors. Using the proceeds, the developers would then have more available funds for building apartments.
Put simply, said the bill’s co-sponsor Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, the legislation will “catalyze the private sector to build more housing in urban and rural areas for working families.”
Wyden has long been involved with affordable housing issues. Earlier this year, he remarked “housing ought to be a basic human right.”
The legislation, however, has sparked the opposition of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, calling it a “misguided and wasteful use of scarce federal resources.”
The group added that “middle-income families comprise less than 1% of those facing significant housing challenges, while 92.5% of severely cost-burdened households have very low or extremely low incomes and would not be served by the new tax breaks.”
The National Association of Home Builders, on the other hand, has announced its support of the legislation. In a statement, the group said it is “exactly the type of solution we need Congress to enact in order to begin solving the housing affordability crisis.”
By Garry Boulard