The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing, “Challenges in Preserving the U.S. Housing Stock,” on April 16, 2024.
Senator Smith (D-MN) indicated that in the USA, more than half of the homes are over forty years old. Also, in rural areas there are an estimated 400,000 government sponsored apartments that are about to become unaffordable unless there is government intervention. Senator Lummis (R-WY) indicated that ageing housing stock or the need for home preservation is more likely to impact people in rural areas, because inflation makes renovations expensive and rural homeowners are unable to procure assistance to renovate. Due to the high cost of housing repair sometimes it is more feasible to abandon the homes, which lessens the housing stock. Further, high-cost regulations limit the building of new homes.
Witness Robin Davey Wolff, Senior Director of Rural Communities for Enterprise Community Partners, highlighted another group that is disproportionately impacted, Tribal Nations. Tribal housing stock is four times more likely to have deteriorating housing. This is the result of a mix of federal and state laws that make it difficult for Tribal communities to access the resources. State and federal laws often fail to recognize Tribal sovereignty, and the need to take a nation-to-nation approach.
Current barriers to preserving housing stock, grant programs that are too challenging to navigate, and need for a suite of grants that decreases cost of renovation. Recommendations were to enact the following federal policies: Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit (NHTC) -Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Young (R-IN), New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Extension Act of 2023 (S. 234), Housing Credit provisions in the House-passed Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024), Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA, S.1557), Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Todd Young (R-IN), Rural Housing Service Reform Act (RHSRA) (S. 2790) Chair Smith and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD).
By Aretha Shalanda Campbell, Policy Intern
