At a convening called by the National Alliance to Close the Wealth Gap, a broad coalition of advocates and experts called for urgent action to address the U.S.’s growing housing affordability and supply crisis, a crisis that is squeezing renters and pushing homeownership out of reach for working families.

Inadequate housing supply remains a critical factor driving up costs for both renters and buyers. Mercatus Center research assistant Eli Kahn presented data showing that multiple states and localities have considered 263 bills this year designed to ease the regulatory burdens on homebuilding, and a number of such measures have passed in recent years. These include a  wide variety of reforms to zoning and permitting designed to allow “missing middle” density in areas formerly zoned for single-family homes only. Karl Eckhart, VP of State & Local Policy Affairs at the National Association of Home Builders, provided a builders perspective – reminding the audience that overcoming local Nimby zoning is a big obstacle. He also emphasized that it takes 28 construction trade groups to build one home and that community organizations and businesses cannot alone fill the need. Several states are doing great projects, such as the Construction Act in Nevada, but we need the federal government to make homeownership a reality for all.

“Homeownership is the primary driver of household wealth,” said Laura Arce, Unidos US Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives. “In the Latino community, homeowners have 28 times the wealth of renters, and homeownership rates have increased, but we still lag behind whites. “We must address the systemic barriers holding us back, like soaring costs and the fact that Latino borrowers have higher loan denial rates and pay higher interest, even after controlling for factors like credit score.”

Elisabeth Coats, National Community Stabilization Trust Homeownership Alliance director, noted that the federal government has a number of programs aimed at increasing the supply of affordable homes both for rental and ownership, such as the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, but they don’t always work effectively. Coates pointed to comments her organization recently submitted regarding possible updates to HOME, noting that “many Alliance members have found utilization of this program for homeownership purposes next to impossible. This stems from burdensome regulations, inconsistent guidance, and confusion at the Participating Jurisdiction level.”

In general, participants were pleased that the issue is finally getting more attention. “It’s encouraging to see at least one presidential campaign raising America’s housing emergency as a major issue,” commented John Gamboa, Executive Director of the National Alliance to Close the Wealth Gap, sponsor of the event. “But we can’t just depend on politicians. It’s time for the people — all the people — to lead our leaders and make sure we address this crisis.”

For more information, visit: https://www.closethegapalliance.org/