Enacting Affordable Housing

Working families did everything right, and the system moved the goalposts. Big investment firms are buying up starter homes and renting them back at higher prices. Zoning and permitting rules make it illegal to build housing where people actually live and work. Builders, especially small and local ones, cannot access financing in the communities that need housing most. Low and Moderate-income housing has disappeared, forcing families to stay in starter homes longer and tightening the entire market. When supply is artificially constrained, rents rise, hurting tenants and squeezing small landlords at the same time. This is not the free market but rather a rigged market built on scarcity. We must stop Wall Street speculation, legalize the housing we actually need, turn empty buildings into homes, unlock financing and tax credits for builders in underserved communities, and put federal land and distressed properties to work, all to deliver more homes for working families and fewer homes for hedge funds.

Limit large institutional ownership of single-family homes through portfolio caps or graduated taxation. Crack down on bulk purchases that crowd out first-time buyers. Increase transparency on who owns housing at scale and enforce antitrust laws when markets are captured by a few powerful players. Expand Community Land Trusts so homes stay affordable permanently, separate land cost from home cost to block speculation, and support other shared-equity models that let working families build modest wealth without locking them into permanent renting

Reform zoning to allow multi-family housing, missing-middle housing, starter homes, and workforce housing. Streamline permitting and environmental review without lowering standards. Establish by-right approvals near transit, job centers, and downtowns. Eliminate duplicative processes that delay projects for years without adding value.

Make it easier to convert vacant offices, warehouses, strip malls, and commercial buildings into housing. Update outdated codes that block adaptive reuse. Fast-track approvals for conversions with existing infrastructure already in place. Prioritize workforce and moderate-income housing.

Expand federal loan guarantees for small and mid-size builders, minority-owned and community-based developers. Increase access to construction and acquisition financing in economically underserved areas. Modernize federal housing finance to support low- and moderate-income housing construction. Expand affordable mortgages for first-time buyers and buyers in underserved communities. Expand and modernize housing tax credits for low- and moderate-income housing, mixed-income developments, starter homes, and workforce housing, with incentives tied to affordability, production, and timeline benchmarks and strong auditing.

Use federal land and distressed properties as housing launchpads. Create a land assembly program that clears title and environmental hurdles, bundles sites, and bids projects out to private and nonprofit builders. Deploy federal dollars to de-risk projects and renovate blighted properties. Prioritize low- and moderate-income housing with clear affordability standards.