U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans this week that seeks to lower housing costs, create more affordable housing, and control the cost of rent.
The Biden-Harris Housing Plan would build 2 million homes and provide $10,000 in mortgage relief to unlock homeownership for millions of Americans. Currently, more housing units are under construction than at any time in over 50 years, and the rate of new housing starts is up 17 percent compared to the Trump Administration.
Specifically, Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation giving corporate landlords a choice to either cap rent increases on existing units at 5 percent or risk losing current valuable federal tax breaks.
Biden’s plan also calls for repurposing public land sustainably to enable as many as 15,000 additional affordable housing units to be built in Nevada. Further, the plan calls for rehabilitating distressed housing, building more affordable housing, and revitalizing neighborhoods, including in Las Vegas.
The Biden Administration said that Republicans in Congress have tried to cut rental assistance and programs that build more homes and lower mortgage costs. Currently, Senate Republicans are blocking a bill that passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support that would help build 200,000 affordable homes. In addition, the previous administration secured a special tax subsidy for corporate landlords.
Under Biden’s plan, corporate landlords, beginning this year and for the next two years, would only be able to take advantage of faster depreciation write-offs available to owners of rental housing if they keep annual rent increases to no more than 5 percent each year. This would apply to landlords with over 50 units in their portfolio, covering more than 20 million units across the country.
Also, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is announcing new actions to protect renters in multifamily properties financed by loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The protections include:
• Requiring 30-day notice before rent increases;
• Requiring 30-day notice on lease expiration;
• Providing a 5-day grace period before imposing late fees on rental payments.
• Repurposing Public Land to Build More Affordable Housing
The administration is also announcing new actions to repurpose federal land to build tens of thousands of affordable homes. The Federal government is the largest landholder in the country. In addition, state and local governments, as well as transit agencies, school districts, public utilities, and faith-based institutions, own considerable amounts of land that are underutilized.
Biden is calling on all federal agencies to assess surplus federal land that can be repurposed to build more affordable housing across the country.
Also, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is announcing new actions to create thousands of affordable housing units on BLM land in Nevada.
The Mortgage Bankers Association voiced its opposition to the rent control plan.
“There are endless examples in localities in America and around the world that prove that rent control is a counter-productive policy idea that ultimately harms renters by distorting market pricing, discouraging new construction, and degrading the quality of rental housing,” MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said.
He added that it would be “catastrophic to renters and our nation’s rental housing market.”
“MBA is focused on working with the Biden administration, Congress, and local communities on common sense solutions that will boost housing supply, lower costs for renters, and improve the federal government’s multifamily lending programs,” he said.