Getty Images; realtor.com
During the last presidential election cycle, housing didn’t seem to be one of the primary issues on the minds of any of the main candidates—or, apparently, voters. Nope, the headline-making rhetoric was all about Obamacare, building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the economy.
But what a difference four years can make! Now, with home and rental prices hitting new highs in much of the nation, the lack of affordable housing has become a top talking point in the 2020 race. All but one of the Democratic contenders (we’re looking at you, Joe Biden) have, in fact, released sometimes voluminous housing plans to address what’s becoming a crisis for many Americans.
“I’m glad to actually see candidates discussing housing, which is becoming such a major challenge for many Americans,” says realtor.com’s Senior Economist George Ratiu. “We have a tremendous shortage of housing. Given [its] importance to the U.S. economy, it should be a top-of-mind issue.”
But what kind of plans do the contenders for the highest office in the land have to solve America’s housing crisis?
To find out, we bravely took a deep dive into the many thousands of words of proposals, planks, and plans put out by the six Democratic candidates who qualified for the latest debate, held on Jan. 14, plus former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who didn’t meet the donation threshold for the debate because he is self-funding his candidacy). Our goal: cut through the vast clutter to get to the heart of their ideas on what these men or women would do for housing if they became the POTUS.
We did not include President Donald Trump since the Republican leader’s already had three years in the office to put his mark on housing policies. Some of his biggest impacts so far have been capping the size of mortgage interest deductions and limiting how much folks can write off in property taxes.
Below are the highlights and main themes of the housing plans of each of the major Democratic candidates, broken into digestible chunks.
So what should you know before hitting the polls?
Joe Biden
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Claim to fame: Former vice president under President Barack Obama
Age: 77
Homeownership: Front-runner Biden has so far had the least to say about housing of all major candidates, save Trump. He’s promising the release of a fully fleshed-out plan soon. But he has said he would use federal funding to provide first-time home buyers with a $15,000 down payment.
Public housing assistance: He plans to make sure that all formerly incarcerated individuals can find housing. He’d approve HUD contracts only with groups that give folks in need of affordable housing and services another chance—even if they have criminal histories.
Also: he’d fully fund Section 8 vouchers, so every eligible, low-income household would receive the housing assistance. (The majority of Americans who currently qualify for these benefits don’t receive them.)
———
Michael Bloomberg
Scott Heins/Getty Images
Claims to fame: Former New York City mayor, billionaire media mogul
Age: 77
Homeownership: Thinking outside the box, Bloomberg-style, he says he would create a $10 billion “competition” that would award towns and cities that come up with innovative and effective ways to get rid of the zoning restrictions and other barriers to building affordable housing in areas with good schools, jobs, and public transit. (Such barriers, he claims, “increase housing costs by 50% or more.”)
Renters: Add hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units over a 10-year period by expanding the low-income housing tax credit. Also provide incentives to cities to create more affordable housing in their most desirable neighborhoods.
Public housing assistance: Direct more federal funds toward community grants and housing vouchers; meanwhile, increase the value of vouchers in pricier areas.
Homelessness: Provide cities with significant incentives to house the homeless and provide support and work training, along with substance abuse programs. Folks on the brink of homelessness? They’d be eligible for legal aid and temporary financial help, to keep the ranks from swelling further.
Fair housing: Create a $10 billion Housing Fairness Commission to find ways to stop discrimination. The Fair Housing Act would be expanded to add family and veteran status, sexual orientation, and source of funds as protected classes.
———
Pete Buttigieg
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Claim to fame: Former mayor of South Bend, IN (pop. 101,860)
Age: 38
Homeownership: Buttigieg’s so-called Douglass Plan (you guessed it, named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass) would create a public trust to buy up abandoned properties in struggling and racially segregated or historically redlined, minority communities. Low-income residents who’ve lived in these areas for at least three of the past 10 years would be given the homes free and clear with a 10-year, forgivable lien for renovations—provided they make it their primary residence. Cities and prospective homeowners would have to apply to participate in the program.
Renters: He’d put $430 million toward the construction of affordable housing; he’d build or renovate more than 2 million housing units for the poorest Americans, and provide housing for 7 million low-income families.
Public housing assistance: Invest $170 billion in housing vouchers so families can find housing and get counseling and other services. He’d also allow folks with criminal records to receive public housing assistance.
Homelessness: He has promised to end all homelessness for families with children.
Green housing: Fully fund the removal of all lead paint from apartments and homes.
———
Amy Klobuchar
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Claim to fame: U.S. senator from Minnesota
Age: 59
Homeownership: Klobuchar’s housing plan calls for expanding down payment assistance and bolstering federal home-buying education programs, particularly in areas with low homeownership rates. She’d also help more prospective buyers build credit histories by enabling credit bureaus to factor in their cellphone, rent, and utility bills. She’d bolster protections for seniors taking out reverse mortgages on their homes and increase oversight and enforcement of fair lending practices. And she’d create a new federal tax credit to encourage investment in residential properties in poorer communities.
Renters: Create a federal grant program to provide legal assistance to folks facing eviction; prioritize awarding grants to areas with zoning that encourages more affordable housing development; and invest more in rural rental assistance programs and affordable housing programs, particularly for Native Americans.
Public housing assistance: Increase funding for housing vouchers. Support housing programs that help the disabled and those with AIDS. Expand programs that allow renters to use housing vouchers in better neighborhoods, and make it illegal for landlords to refuse to rent to someone based on the source of their income (such as housing vouchers).
Homelessness: Increase grants that provide emergency and long-term shelter for the homeless.
Green housing: Retrofit buildings participating in federal housing programs to reduce carbon emissions.
Fair housing: Undo Trump’s changes to Fair Housing rules.
———
Bernie Sanders
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Claims to fame: U.S. senator from Vermont
Age: 78
Homeownership: Sanders has one of the most comprehensive housing plans of all candidates. So let’s get started, shall we? He’d invest $50 billion to create state and local community land trusts; these would help families buy homes at reasonable prices with the promise that they’ll sell them at lower prices to keep the homes affordable. He’d also invest $15 billion to buy and rehab abandoned properties in poorer communities.
He’d create a first-time home buyer assistance program and provide more counseling to aspiring buyers; along the way, he’d increase protections against shady mortgages. He’d provide financial help to victims of predatory lending, redlining, and mortgage fraud, and those still underwater on their home loans from the Great Recession. He’d provide hefty incentives for developers to include affordable housing into their projects. And he’d regulate and impose restrictions on Wall Street funds that own homes.
And he’d come down hard on flippers. He’d tax them 25% if they’re turning a profit on the property within five years of the purchase. He’d also try to curb “ghost homes,” taxing folks who own empty homes 2% of the property’s value to encourage them to rent or sell them. He’d also limit property taxes in gentrifying areas so longtime residents aren’t priced out.
Renters: Institute national rent control requirements and make it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants. Landlords would be barred from upping annual rents by more than 3% or 1.5 times the consumer price index; they’d be eligible for waivers for making significant capital improvements to the properties.
Over the next decade, he’d invest nearly $1.5 trillion in the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build, rehab, and preserve affordable, rental housing. He’d build and preserve affordable housing in rural America and prevent landlords from discriminating against the source of renters’ income.
Public housing assistance: $70 billion will go toward repairing, remediating, and building public housing. Sanders would fully fund Section 8 rental assistance so everyone eligible would receive the help.
Homelessness: He’s vowed to end it. He’d double grants to put up more housing for the homeless and commit $500 million for states and localities to do homeless outreach.
Green housing: He’d have green, energy-saving retrofits performed in public housing. He’d also provide grants for low- and middle-income folks to weatherize and retrofit their homes and businesses and get cheaper electricity.
Fair housing: He plans to create an independent National Fair Housing Agency to investigate landlords, protect mobile-home residents, and uphold the law. He’d also make sure LGBTQ Americans become a protected class under the Fair Housing Act.
———
Tom Steyer
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Claims to fame: Former hedge fund manager-turned-billionaire-turned-activist
Age: 62
Homeownership: Steyer’s housing plan provides incentives for those putting up multiunit buildings where residents share ownership, such as co-ops and co-living homes. Public servants would be eligible for a down payment assistance fund. Low- and middle-income renters would be eligible for quarterly, housing tax credits to be used to offset the costs of renting or for saving up for a down payment on a home. And there would be protections put in place for seniors taking out reverse mortgages.
And, similar to his billionaire bud Bloomberg, he’d create an IDEAHousing Competition, awarding up to $10 billion a year for solutions to the housing crisis.
Renters: Invest $47 billion annually in grants and loans earmarked for the construction, renovation, and preservation of low-income housing, prioritizing green projects, and create an emergency fund to provide one-time grants and loans to families facing eviction.
Public housing assistance: Expand access to housing vouchers, and allow federal money to be used for the construction of new public housing.
Homelessness: Invest $8 billion in homeless services and turning vacant properties into shelter.
Green housing: The environment, of course, is Steyer’s big issue. He promises that by 2030, all new residential buildings would be carbon-free. And he’d also provide incentives to make buildings more environmentally friendly.
He’d invest $156 billion in formerly redlined communities to help folks build home equity, mitigate environmental pollution, and create green energy jobs. He’d designate $195 billion for creating environmentally friendly, affordable housing, open spaces, and insurance for renters displaced by natural disasters. An additional $250 billion in bonds would be issued over a decade to create greener communities.
Fair housing: He’d expand fair housing to include gender identity among other classes.
———
Elizabeth Warren
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Claim to fame: U.S. senator from Massachusetts
Age: 70
Homeownership: Warren’s comprehensive housing plan gives more down payment assistance to those in lower-income, minority communities. She’d also provide foreclosure assistance to those whose mortgages are still underwater from the Great Recession and encourage lenders to issue more mortgages locally. She’d also limit federal agencies selling mortgages to Wall Street to prevent more foreclosures.
Renters: She expects to lower rents by 10% by creating more housing for low-income and middle-class households. How? By giving local governments incentives to eliminate or ease restrictive zoning and land-use rules. She’d spend $500 billion over the next decade to build, renovate, and preserve affordable housing. She’d invest in housing for Native Americans. And she’d create a middle-class housing emergency fund to build rental housing for middle-income Americans in expensive areas.
She’d also make it harder for landlords to evict tenants by creating a Tenant Protection Bureau and providing legal assistance for renters in eviction cases. And she’d create an Innovation Lab to find ways to make rents affordable.
Public housing assistance: Increase housing voucher amounts so renters can move into better communities; use federal funding to construct and operate new public housing.
Homelessness: Fight homelessness for veterans, transgender individuals, and LGBTQ youth by funding various initiatives.
Green housing: Retrofit 4% of buildings to be more energy-efficient each year, and invest in programs to remove mold and lead paint. She’d create grants for public housing to do retrofits and upgrade the facilities. New buildings would undergo environmental screens. And all new buildings would be zero carbon pollution by 2028.
Fair housing: Expand the Fair Housing Act, making sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity, and occupation protected classes. o Contentg
The post Cast Your Votes! How 2020’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Help You Buy a House (or Not) appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
source https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/how-2020-presidential-candidates-plan-to-help-you-buy-a-house-or-not/
No comments:
Post a Comment