New York Times & Atlanta Journal Constitution Editorials on Affordable Housing
July 6, 2007
New York Times
July 3, 2007
Editorial
Affordable Housing
Nearly half of the country's lowest-income families suffer from what Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies describes as a severe housing cost burden that places them at clear risk of homelessness. These struggling families often live doubled up with relatives and spend more than half of their pretax incomes on rent, which means that they keep a roof over their heads only by cutting back on food, clothing and medical care.
The affordable housing crisis was accelerated during the 1980's, when the Reagan administration and Congress backed away from a longstanding federal commitment to affordable housing by cutting construction funds and revising the tax structure in ways that discouraged investment in affordable, multifamily buildings. Congress could reverse those disastrous policies and help the most vulnerable families by passing legislation that would create the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Modeled on successful, state-level programs, the fund would be used to construct, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of housing over the next 10 years. The money - three-quarters of which would be earmarked for extremely low-income families - would be parceled out to local jurisdictions that would then award grants to entities that build and rehabilitate housing. In exchange for trust fund dollars, a proportionate number of units would be set aside for low-income families. This would encourage healthy, mixed-income developments.
The fund would require no new taxes, but would be financed through new contributions made by the government-backed mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and with additional revenue generated by the Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages. To put it another way, the government would direct money made from housing right back into the same area.
Hard-line Republicans have opposed similar legislation in the past, arguing that the federal government has no place in the housing business. But the bipartisan support that has materialized for this year's bill suggests that the ideologues have had their day and that the pain and hardship being inflicted by the affordable housing crisis is finally being recognized on both sides of the aisle.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
07/06/07
Opinion
Affordable Housing Needs Support
As with other domestic priorities, housing policy has gotten short shrift in recent years, but that situation may soon change. A new bill introduced in Congress last month could renew interest in the issue and hopefully propel it to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign.
House Resolution 2895, which has bipartisan support, would create a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund with the goal of producing, preserving or rehabilitating at least 1.5 million units of affordable housing in the next decade.
The fund would be established and replenished with contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage companies, as well as revenues from the Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages.
Early estimates suggest the fund would initially total about $1 billion. To participate, state and local governments would have to provide a dollar for every $2 drawn from the fund, and the money could be used for everything from construction to down-payment assistance.
The bill proposes that at least 75 percent of the trust fund be reserved for those who are "extremely low income," which means they're earning less than 30 percent of an area's median income. That population accounts for about 9 million households who rent.
A recent study released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development underscores the growing need for low-cost housing to serve those families living on the economic margins.
Between 2003 and 2005, the percentage of households who earned 50 percent below an area's median income and were living in substandard housing without government housing subsidies rose by 16 percent, according to the HUD report.
The composition of Americans living in such "worst case" housing includes 2.3 million families with children, 1.3 million seniors and 542,000 persons with disabilities. Although major cities saw a nearly 15 percent increase of worst-case households, suburban areas experienced a 5 percent rise, and rural areas faced a 51 percent jump.
The demand for affordable housing is becoming acute in metro Atlanta where several factors are dramatically changing the area's housing landscape. For example, the Atlanta Housing Authority is shuttering its older housing projects, a wave of gentrification is making some older, intown neighborhoods less affordable and developers are building high-priced condos catering to affluent households who eschew long commutes.
In order to mitigate against market forces that can jeopardize our poorest citizens, local and national governments must play an active role. Congress can begin doing that, and thereby recognizing a collective commitment to provide a basic human need, by passing this bill.
— Lyle V. Harris, for the editorial board (lharris@ajc.com)
