Robert Rubin: Congress can help make housing affordable — it just has to act
By Robert E. Rubin and Rob Portman for The Hill
Home sale signs are posted along Topanga Canyon road in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 2023. On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors on reports on existing home sales for October. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
The Barrister Apartments in downtown Cincinnati exemplifies how federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits can transform vacant buildings into much-needed affordable housing. While this project will provide crucial housing for service workers earning less than 60% of the area median income, it represents just a fraction of Ohio's estimated need for 270,000 affordable units – reflecting a nationwide housing crisis with a production gap of 3.8 million units.
There's bipartisan momentum in Congress to address this crisis through two key proposals: expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which could create nearly 2 million additional affordable homes over the next decade, and the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which would support single-family home development in distressed communities. These solutions could help ensure more Americans have access to affordable housing while creating pathways to homeownership and community revitalization.
