Published: January 2020

Federal deregulation attempts increase barriers to affordable housing

All over the country, housing unaffordability has become a crisis. The number of households spending more than half of their income on housing payments has skyrocketed in the past decade. Almost 50% of renters are struggling with unaffordable rents, and the homeless population is rapidly growing in high cost areas. In response to this national crisis, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published a request for information to examine how regulations could be creating barriers to affordable housing. In response, advocates point out that it's not regulatory efforts, but moves to deregulate the housing and financial markets that are eroding and withdrawing crucial commonsense oversights, thereby increasing barriers to affordable housing.

In many markets, housing unaffordability has become a crisis. The number of households spending more than half of their income on housing payments has skyrocketed in the past decade. Almost 50% of renters are struggling with unaffordable rents, and the homeless population is rapidly growing in high cost areas. In response to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) request for information on how market regulation may be hindering the availability of affordable housing, advocates argue that regulations are not causing major barriers to affordable housing. The biggest problem impacting affordable housing is that wages and incomes are not keeping up with rapidly rising housing costs. In addition to wage stagnation, a host of recent deregulatory efforts DO pose substantial risks to affordable housing availability. These efforts seek to reduce or eliminate protections put in place to prohibit exclusionary policies and implement an affirmative duty to serve entire communities, including LMI households and families of color.

Lead Organization

American's for Financial Reform (AFR)

Other Organizations

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund | Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc. | Arizona Housing Coalition | Center for Community Progress | Center for Fair Housing, Inc. | CFORM-Covenant Community Development Corporation | Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance | Coalition for Fair Housing Mobile, AL | Community Concepts, Inc. | Consumer Action | Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling, Inc d/b/a National Foundation for Debt Management | Consumer Federation of America | Eastside Community Development Corporation, Inc. | Empire Justice Center | Equal Rights Center | Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California | Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana | Fair Housing Council of Northern NJ | Fifth Avenue Committee | GBM3, Inc. | Greater Houston Fair Housing Center | Grounded Solutions Network | H O N D, Inc. | High Plains Fair Housing Center | HOPE Fair Housing Center | Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania | Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Inc. | Housing Partnership | Illinois People's Action | La Casa De Don Pedro | Lawrence CommunityWorks | Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center | Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership | Metro Fair Housing Services, Inc. | Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc. | Mobile Chapter of NAREB | NAACP | NAMI Mobile | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | National Fair Housing Alliance | National Housing Law Project | National Housing Resource Center | NCCCED | Neighbors Helping Neighbors | NeighborWorks Southern New Hampshire | New Jersey Citizen Action | Project Sentinel | Prosperity Now | Proud Ground | Savannah-Chatham County Fair Housing Council, Inc. | The Fair Housing Center | United Tenants of Albany (UTA) | Universal Housing Development Corporation | Ventura County Community Development Corporation | Woodstock Institute

More Information

For more information, please visit AFR.

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Federal deregulation attempts increase barriers to affordable housing   (HUDRFI.pdf)