The next president of the United States will inherit, among other pressing issues, a housing crisis that has seen average rents increase by 19% since 2019, leaving tens of millions of Americans paying more than 30% of their income towards rent and many others homeless. Vice President Kamala Harris, seeking the mantle of a sober problem-solver in comparison to former President Donald Trump, has released an extensive plan to reduce the costs of housing, largely by building more of it.
Harris' proposed effort to add 3 million new housing units, part of "A New Way Forward for the Middle Class," centers on providing a lot of incentives — expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to help developers build affordable rental housing, creating a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit to support the construction and rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes in low-income communities, introducing a tax cut for homebuilders building houses for first-time homebuyers and providing an additional $40 billion for state and local governments to expand the housing supply. Additionally, Harris wants to provide $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
