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The Politics of Affordable Housing
The U.S. House recently passed H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, by a overwhelming bipartisan vote. This bill aims to expand affordable housing tax credits, support working families through an enhanced Child Tax Credit, promote innovation and competitiveness, provide tax relief for disaster-struck areas, and eliminate fraud in certain tax credit programs.
On the surface, it sounds beneficial – who could argue with more affordable housing and tax relief? However, a deeper look suggests this bill is mostly political posturing rather than real reform.
Take the affordable housing provisions. The bill seeks to increase the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which gives credits to developers to build affordable units. However, when the average home price is $412,000 and average income only $59,000, how much will some extra tax credits really increase affordability? The hundreds of billions already spent on affordable housing have barely moved the needle. This bill does little to confront the underlying lack of housing supply driving high costs.
More likely, elected officials embraced this bipartisan bill in an election year to appear proactive on kitchen table issues like housing costs and taxes, hoping busy voters won’t examine the lack of substance. Both parties seem to assume we can’t see through the smoke and mirrors.
This election, pay attention to how politicians talk about housing issues. Go beyond sound bites to examine actual proposals. Are they tackling barriers to building more market-rate and affordable housing? Do they have creative ideas to increase affordability? Or are they throwing more money into the same old programs?
Don’t just vote along party lines either. Carefully consider each candidate’s ideas, not just their slogans. With engaged citizens scrutinizing housing policies, politicians might actually start addressing costs in a meaningful way. Then we can write more mortgages, list more homes, and regain housing affordability – outcomes that benefit both families and industry.
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