Americans in 2024 face a host of issues, but the cost of living is top of mind for many voters. Families are struggling to afford basic necessities and making difficult choices about what they can spend money on. Yet one issue may be the most important of all, especially to younger voters: the housing crisis.
Cost-burdened renters hit a national record high in 2022 with over 50% of all renters spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing expenses — and 52% of Marylanders fall into this category.
Much of this is attributed to historic recessions and a general lack of housing supply, both affordable and market rate. With inflation and interest rates continuing to squeeze Americans, rent increases have outpaced household income growth, further widening the affordability gap. All these factors impact low- and moderate-income residents disproportionately because the supply gaps are more pronounced at the lower end.
Undoubtedly, there’s not enough affordable housing for Americans. We have high demand for affordable homes, with low supply causing housing costs to go up and up. Like most of the nation, Maryland is experiencing a shortage, of about 96,000 housing units, and has seen the income needed to afford a median-priced house skyrocket 56% between 2021 and 2023. At the same time, there are weak incentives for housing developers to build affordable housing rather than more high-end housing.
While many issues divide us along partisan lines today, housing is a party-agnostic issue. People of all ages are struggling to find affordable options to both rent and buy, which especially affects young voters’ sense of hope for their future.
We need to reframe how we think about housing. Housing should be viewed as economic development infrastructure. An adequate housing supply has the power to transform and uplift whole communities and provide opportunities for social mobility.
Children with safe and stable housing are proven to have better grade point averages and are more likely to go to college. A study from Children’s Healthwatch, which looked at housing stability and health outcomes for children in Baltimore, found children with stable housing conditions are less likely to be considered seriously underweight and more likely to be food secure and considered “well” healthwise. Communities with adequate affordable housing result in less homelessness and give more young people the opportunity to become first-time homeowners. Future policies must enable starter homes and varied housing types to move the whole market.
To address these issues, we must act with urgency to increase the housing supply for all income levels and all housing types. Policymakers must find ways to streamline the development process and make it easier for affordable housing developers to develop on unused and obsolete public land. Acres of federal land are underutilized — imagine if affordable housing developers could access this land for a reduced cost. This would reduce the amount of time and expense it takes to develop properties and increase the affordable housing supply for Americans by tenfold.
Action is needed on the federal, state and local levels. In April, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed three housing bills to help increase financing for affordable housing and lessen restrictions on zoning and permitting. These types of actions should continue.
Policymakers should also increase Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and increase subsidies for affordable housing development and preservation. Right now, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits offer 9% tax credits primarily used for new builds and 4% primarily for preservation, retrofits and adaptive reuse. The latter costs about half that of new builds, so if we increase the priority for preservation, that will provide more dollars and more opportunities to increase the affordable housing supply.
When we financially incentivize commercial real estate developers to not only build new units but also restore and preserve existing ones, we create a win-win-win formula for households, private developers and local communities.
Candidates need to understand that housing is a top issue for voters of all income levels, all over the country and across party lines. While America’s housing crisis is mired with challenges, candidates should embrace policies that greatly increase the amount of affordable housing in this country, providing more people with homes where they can live economically fulfilled lives.
No candidate has perfect solutions, but voters must seek candidates at all levels who are working to address the housing crisis. With innovative thinking and deliberate action, we can create hopeful housing pathways for all Americans.
Paul Bernard is president and CEO of the nonprofit housing developer Affordable Homes & Communities (www.ahcinc.org).