The Biden administration announced a series of actions Wednesday that officials say will immediately “stabilize families who are at risk of losing their homes.”
“The large and long-standing gap between the supply and demand of affordable homes for both renters and homeowners makes it harder for families to buy their first home and drives up the cost of rent. Higher housing costs also crowd out other investments families can and should make to improve their lives, such as investments in education,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday morning. “President Biden is committed to using every tool available in government to produce more affordable housing supply as quickly as possible, and to make supply available to families in need of affordable, quality housing — rather than to large investors.”
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Officials specifically pointed to actions taken by “large investors” to drive up costs in the housing market. One in 6 homes purchased in the spring of 2021 “was acquired by investors,” with some markets seeing that figure spike to 25% of all transactions.
“Large investor purchases of single-family homes and conversion into rental properties speeds the transition of neighborhoods from homeownership to rental and drives up home prices for lower cost homes, making it harder for aspiring first-time and first-generation home buyers, among others, to buy a home,” the officials added. “At the same, these purchases are unlikely to meaningfully boost supply in the lower-cost portions of the rental market, as investors charge more for rent to recoup higher purchase costs.”
President Joe Biden’s Wednesday announcement orders the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to:
- Boost the supply of quality, affordable rental units
- Boost the supply of manufactured housing and 2-4 unit properties
- Make more single-family homes available to individuals, families, and non-profit organizations — rather than large investors
- Work with state and local governments to boost housing supply
Those goals, according to the administration, will be directly achieved through relaunching HUD’s Risk Sharing Program and the Federal Financing Bank, boosting the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Investment Cap offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allocate Capital Magnet Fund money for Affordable Housing Production and Community Development Financial Institutions.
Biden pledged on the campaign trail to make the housing market more equitable, and his administration has prioritized keeping families in their homes throughout the pandemic.
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Just last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended a pandemic eviction moratorium for a third time, despite a previous decision from the Supreme Court that found the moratorium was unconstitutional. Biden himself suggested that he knew this latest extension would eventually be rolled back but hoped that it would give Congress enough time to pass legislation on the subject.
The president also signed an executive order in the spring that would ease regulations on credit reports, which are often cited as a negative housing barrier for first-time homebuyers and other low-income individuals.
