Maxwell Drever on Workforce Housing Crises & the Available Solutions

The lack of affordable housing is harming counties and citizens all around the United States of America. County officials are attempting to ensure that inhabitants in rural, suburban, and urban regions have appropriate housing without having to pay exorbitant housing rates.

Increased government funding for essential housing and community development initiatives, as well as the extension of federal housing instruments, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, are all supported by NACo. Despite the fact that federal housing financing has decreased in general, numerous housing assistance programs have secured additional funding for the fiscal year 2021.

Investors standing up to the plate

As supply limitations have become more severe, wealthy investors have increased their real estate acquisitions, particularly of single-family houses in both city and suburb’s locations, to meet demand. Investors bought one out of every six houses purchased in the second quarter of 2021, according to sources, and in certain regions, that ratio is as high as one out of every four homes purchased. When it comes to investor acquisitions, investors with much more than 10 properties often account for even more than 35% of all transactions. Maxwell Drever points out that the large investor transactions of single-family homes and conversions to rental properties accelerates the transition of neighborhoods from homeownership to rental status and drive up housing values for lower-cost homes, making it more difficult for aspiring first-timers as well as first-time homebuyers, amongst many others, to purchase a home on their own. At the very same time, these acquisitions are unlikely to result in a significant increase in the supply in the lower-cost segments of the rental market since investors would demand higher rents in order to recuperate the increased purchase costs.

What is required to be done?

We must also do more to protect the affordable housing infrastructure that already exists in our country. Despite the fact that government housing provides a home to more than 2.6 million low-income residents, Congress has placed these residences in danger of deterioration and ruin by underfunding them on a consistent basis. Between 2000 and 2016, the amount of money available for public housing renovations was reduced by half. As a consequence, many public housing organizations are unable to perform the necessary renovations to keep these houses in good condition, and our nation loses between 10,000 and 15,000 public housing flats each year as a consequence. It is predicted that the amount of money required to handle capital improvements in public housing would surpass $50 billion.

The epidemic has presented an opportunity for decisive action that has the potential to reshape America's housing authorities for the greatest part of the next century if properly implemented. However, this window of opportunity will not exist indefinitely, and we must make use of it to ensure that it is appropriate for all Americans. Maxwell Drever advises both government and non-government bodies to come together to work against such crises. Effective steps with proper planning could help in avoiding major workforce housing crises.