February 21, 2018 By: J.B. Wogan
Congress indirectly diluted the tax incentives for building affordable housing -- a change that's predicted to result in a quarter of a million fewer units.
Even before Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut in December, the demand for affordable rental housing far exceeded the supply. For every 100 renters who fit the federal government’s definition of “extremely low income,” only 35 units were available.
Congress offers some money for people who can't cover the full cost of rent, but that, too, is inadequate: A recent study found that federal housing assistance goes to fewer than one in five of those who qualify.
Now, because of the new tax law, the affordable housing shortage is expected to get worse.
By one estimate, developers will build nearly 235,000 fewer affordable rental units in the next decade. The reason? Congress diluted tax incentives that fueled the construction and rehabilitation of low-cost rental housing........................Read More
February 18, 2018 By: Jeff Merkley
Not long ago I toured the state, hearing from Oregonians affected by the housing crisis. I heard from folks who became homeless due to rent increases; from families that qualify for affordable housing only to face a years-long wait list; and countless stories in between. Every corner of the state has felt this pain.
As The Register-Guard’s editorial board has illustrated in detail, Lane County is no exception. A lack of mental health services, increasingly pervasive drug addiction, and ongoing economic distress have forced people to the streets, even as the price of rental housing has spiraled beyond workers’ wages.
But the situation is not hopeless. There is some bipartisan support to commit real resources to these issues troubling Eugene, Lane County and the entire country.
The Senate Appropriations Committee last year fully rejected the president’s irresponsible budget, which would have slashed programs for housing and homelessness. Using my seat on the committee, I worked to reinstate and increase that funding.....................Read More
February 13, 2018 By: Jeff Andrews
The new budget proposal shifts the responsibility of funding affordable housing from the federal government to local governments and the private sector.
Home prices and rents are regularly hitting new all-time highs. The share of Americans who spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing is rising. Private sector home builders are catering to the high-end market, not low-income families.
The result is an affordable housing shortage that’s quickly becoming a crisis, and yet instead of increasing investment in the federal programs that can give low-income families housing stability, President Trump’s budget proposal unveiled Monday guts them at time when they’re needed most.
“We’re in the worst affordable housing crisis in generations,” said Sue Popkin, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “We already have a situation where only one in five households eligible for housing assistance gets it. This is only going to make that worse.”......................Read More
