NMHC and NAA to Congress: “America is facing a housing affordability crisis”

NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno Testifies Before Congress on Using Tax Policy to Increase Housing Supply.

By Sharon Wilson Géno, President of the National Multifamily Housing Council

Testifying on behalf of NMHC and NAA, NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno set the record straight on the state of the rental housing industry and how to take on current market constraints.

On March 7, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance called upon the multifamily industry to go on the record regarding tax policy’s potential role in helping to close the supply-demand gap and increase housing affordability. NMHC and NAA happily answered the call. Appearing as a witness at the Committee’s hearing, titled Tax Policy’s Role In Increasing Affordable Housing Supply for Working Families, I provided lawmakers background on the challenge at hand and how we can tackle it.

The Housing Imperative

Challenges may present themselves differently from community to community, but it will come as no surprise to Americans nationwide that we are facing a widespread housing affordability challenge.

No wonder communities are feeling pinched—we simply do not have enough housing to go around. Today, in more and more communities, hard-working Americans are unable to rent homes due to increased cost driven by a lack of supply, barriers to development and regulatory hurdles. Further, our research indicates that we need to build 4.3 million more apartments by 2035 to make up for decades-long underbuilding, meet future demand and avoid increasingly expensive housing. In fact, as of 2021, over one-third of renters are classified as cost-burdened.

Our inability to provide housing that is affordable at a wide-range of price points is shutting out nurses, teachers, firefighters and other vital members of our communities. The private sector is eager to help address this challenge, but we cannot do it alone. Solving this problem should be mission critical. It’s time lawmakers at all levels of government step up.

Opportunity Abounds

The good news: There is a clear path to solving this challenge. Local, state and federal lawmakers should prioritize increased supply and subsidy. Deployed together, these solutions will ensure greater housing stability and affordability for renters at a variety of income levels for decades to come.

Our recommendations to the Committee include a combination of tax policy, regulatory reform, rental assistance and development incentives to chip away at current affordability constraints. Here are the specifics of our proposal:

Expand and enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit;
Enact the Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit to support workforce housing;
Enhance Opportunity Zones to incentivize the rehabilitation and preservation of multifamily buildings;
Encourage the adaptive reuse of underutilized commercial properties into multifamily housing;
Promote the rehabilitation of multifamily housing located near transit;
Lower regulatory hurdles;
Ease construction costs and delays;
Enact portions of the Biden administration Housing Supply Action Plan (e.g., reward jurisdictions that have reformed zoning and land-use policies with higher scores in certain federal grant processes and deploy new financing mechanisms to build and preserve more housing where financing gaps currently exist);
Reform and fully fund the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program;
Sustain funding for Federal housing support and affordability programs; and
Implement federal incentives that encourage states and localities to ease regulatory hurdles that impede building housing that is affordable.

This is the bottom line: There is no silver bullet, but we think a multi-faceted approach is our best bet. The health and stability of the rental housing sector is paramount to that of our overall economy. And, importantly, the sufficient supply of quality housing is necessary in ensuring the continued economic prosperity for Americans nationwide. Without it, we put both at risk. As I said before, solving this challenge should be mission critical. It certainly is for our industry. Join us in prioritizing a healthy rental housing market—the future of your community depends on it.

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About Sharon Wilson Géno

Sharon is the President of NMHC. She is a 30-year veteran of the housing industry, during which she has helped guide numerous for-profit, non-profit and governmental entities through housing affordability, community development and other housing policy challenges. Sharon has a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center, a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs from St. Louis University and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University.

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Sharon Wilson Géno swgeno@nmhc.org

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