What Do The Next 10 Years of Affordable Housing Look Like?

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected Americans’ financial stability all across the nation. This has led to a decline in housing affordability which has left many Americans struggling to afford their apartments and buy homes.  The Biden administration, in March 2020, released their plans for the upcoming future of affordable housing and how these plans might reflect in the next 10 years.

According to the white house fact sheet, Biden plans to allot 213 billion dollars to the American Jobs plan. Some of those funds will be spent improving, building, and battling zoning laws in affordable and public housing. 

In this budget, the Biden administration promises to rehabilitate and rebuild more the 1 million homes in collaboration with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). $40 billion will be allocated to the repair and renovation of public housing units that currently face many health hazards from mold to lead paint affecting tenants.

Biden plans to build 500,000 affordable homes for low-income to middle-class buyers. The construction of these homes is dependent on Congress passing the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which budgets around $20 billion in tax credits over the following 5 years. The white house fact sheet states, “The tax credit will make homeownership and wealth-building possible for low- and moderate-income families by encouraging the construction and rehabilitation of homes in and for underserved communities.” In building these homes, Biden hopes to tackle the housing crisis and provide shelter to the many Americans facing homelessness or financial hardship. 

This plan also includes eradicating exclusionary zoning laws, which have crippled the progress of affordable housing and made it difficult for affordable homes to be built in more expensive areas. Biden hopes to budget $5 billion in an incentive program that will award funding to jurisdictions willing to take the necessary steps to make affordable housing more accessible in these areas. Along with zoning laws, the Biden administration hopes to expand affordable homes in Tribal communities.

The American jobs plan also hopes to tackle homes’ energy efficiency by creating a plan to upgrade less energy-efficient homes. Bidens Clean energy plan includes “a $17.5 billion investment in the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program and $500 million in grants and low-interest loans to help renovate multifamily homes.” The plan also proposes a “$10 billion consumer electrification rebate program modeled on the bipartisan HOPE for HOMES Act.” Biden hopes these investments will produce more sustainable housing as well as jobs and improving public health.