A bipartisan housing coalition co-chaired by Mayor Andre Dickens has made several policy recommendations for the next occupant of the White House, including the formation of a Housing Crisis Council and a $100 billion fund to update and revive the nation’s subsidized affordable housing.
The National Housing Crisis Task Force’s proposal, “From Crisis to Transformation: A Federal Housing Policy Agenda,” published Monday. It urges the next president — either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump — to take action within the first 100 days of the presidency to curb the crisis.
Part of that effort will mean treating the housing shortage “like the true crisis that it is,” Dickens said in a joint letter with his co-chairs: Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, a Democrat; Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican; and Fifth Third Community Development Corp. President Susan Thomas.
“In Utah, Cleveland, Atlanta, and many other parts of the country, state, local, and private-sector leaders are mobilizing and taking action to address the crisis head-on,” the letter states. “But we can’t do it alone: We need the federal government to marshal its resources to address this national problem with the same seriousness as it had in addressing other recent challenges, including those posed by COVID-19.”
The task force outlines five policy approaches to boost housing production, incentivize preservation, and provide a safety net for people who are struggling to pay rent, own a home, or are facing homelessness. That includes a $100 billion Congressional appropriation to preserve the nation’s affordable housing stock and $57 billion to help unhoused people.
National Housing Crisis Task Force Director Benjamin Preis said the housing crisis needs the same level of attention as the pandemic and climate change.
“Nearly the entire federal government needs to be mobilized in order to address the housing crisis,” he said in an interview. “Our top-level recommendation is that the White House needs to organize itself differently to make sure the president can get things done across the federal government.”
Credit: Courtesy Atlanta Regional Commission
Credit: Courtesy Atlanta Regional Commission
With that in mind, the task force recommends the creation of a crisis council in the White House led by a “housing czar,” who would report directly to the president. The council should coordinate housing policy among federal government departments, local governments, and the private sector, according to the 81-page proposal.
Citing estimates from housing advocates and industry groups, the task force says the nation’s housing shortage is anywhere between 1.5 million and 5.5 million homes, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition suggesting a 7.3 million shortfall for low-income renters.
The federal government lacks an “unbiased estimate” of the actual numbers, according to the task force, which urges the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers to identify the nation’s housing needs and make recommendations on how many homes the government should produce.
It also encourages Congress to take action to protect homeowners and owners of multifamily properties who are facing higher insurance premiums.
Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have made housing a central plank of their campaigns. And where once the public might have viewed the housing crisis as confined to big cities, it is now being felt everywhere, in red and blue states and in the suburbs and rural areas, Preis said.
“There are common sense solutions to lower the cost of housing production, preserve what we already have, increase the availability of homeownership, and also make sure that those who do rent are able to afford to do so,” he said.
