In one of his final moves in office, President Joe Biden is aiming to eliminate some bureaucratic hurdles that have historically forced homeowners and renters into expensive mortgages and sky-high rental rates.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration unveiled a $100 million grant program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development aimed at helping local communities identify and remove barriers to the production and preservation of affordable housing.
“The United States faces a shortfall of millions of affordable homes that has driven up home prices and rents and has made finding a quality and affordable home out of reach for too many Americans,” the White House statement said.
The grant will remove red tape and modernize local permitting procedures to facilitate the construction of new housing, finance the construction of new homes for renting and owning, and repair and revitalize existing buildings. New plans will be developed across 14 states, including in the cities of San Francisco, California; Austin, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and St. Louis, Missouri.
The White House also approved the first residential transit-oriented development (TOD) loan under the Department of Transportation’s lending programs. The new initiative will fund the creation of more than 300 new housing units near Florida’s Boca Raton Tri-Rail Station, which is expected to generate an annual $2 million in land lease revenue for the commuter rail system. This would help ensure that public transportation is accessible to people living in affordable housing, removing a potential barrier to employment.
Housing experts from platforms like Zillow argue that the lack of housing supply is one of the main driving forces behind the soaring costs that have prohibited millions of Americans from entering the housing market.
For many, skyrocketing rents and home prices combined with stagnant wages have made it nearly impossible to save for a down payment, locking an entire generation out of homeownership.
Biden’s push to address the housing shortage is an extension of his 2022 Housing Supply Action Plan, which aimed to reverse years of underbuilding and stimulate housing growth by offering incentives to state and local governments.
For many Americans, the dream of homeownership has been squashed by the harsh reality of rising rents and unaffordable home prices. The pandemic-era boom in the housing market only exacerbated these trends, leaving many feeling like homeownership is an impossibility.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump presented vastly different visions for tackling the housing crisis.
Harris proposed a bold plan to offer $25,000 in down-payment assistance and to expand the supply of housing—focusing on practical steps to help people get into homes.
Trump, on the other hand, was far less detailed. He suggested that curbing immigration could somehow ease housing costs. This was widely debunked, as immigration does not significantly impact housing prices. He also called for lowering mortgage rates, which currently sit at around 7.25% for a 30-year fixed loan. Though it remains unclear how he planned to achieve that, as the president is independent of the Federal Reserve, which dictates rates.
Biden’s latest move is part of a series of sweeping policy decisions made during his final months in office, including signing a record number of commutations, cutting billions in student loan debt, protecting land by designating two new national monuments, and banning medical debt from impacting credit scores.
As Biden moves forward with his efforts to ease the housing crunch, he seems to understand that boosting the housing supply and cutting through bureaucratic red tape are two crucial steps in making housing more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans.
Time will only tell if Trump is on the same page.
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