President Joe Biden invested in his promise to expand affordable housing, but his initiatives represented incremental and temporary change. Congressional gridlock stymied his efforts to pass legislation for significant housing assistance.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act included about $1 billion for affordable housing energy efficiency, but the housing funds that Biden initially tried to include in the bill — around $100 billion to construct and upgrade affordable housing — got left out of the final version. The funding that made it in is for energy and water efficiency and climate resilience in federally subsidized housing, all or almost all for renters.

The American Rescue Plan that Biden signed into law in 2021 included nearly $50 billion in housing and homelessness assistance, but that was largely for temporary emergencies.

The Biden administration also supported the Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2023. But the bill did not make it out of committee. The legislation would have created a national down payment assistance program for first-generation homebuyers, helping increase access to homeownership for people with less wealth.

In his final State of the Union address in March, Biden urged Congress to enact legislation to build 2 million more affordable rentals.

"Even though housing was not included in the Inflation Reduction Act, there was some movement to increase funding for affordable housing late in Biden's presidency," said Robert Silverman, a University at Buffalo urban and regional planning professor. "Of course, Trump campaigned on reversing the new (Housing and Urban Development) funding for housing so whatever isn't allocated is at risk of being clawed back when the Trump Administration takes over."  

That funding consisted of $185 million in grants the Biden administration unveiled over the summer as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's PRO Housing program, which allows communities to build more homes and lower the costs of renting and buying a home. Communities can use the money to update housing plans, revise land use policies and streamline the construction permitting process. Grants are also used to preserve existing affordable housing units and provide subsidies to create new ones.

But housing experts reiterated that, although the executive branch has significant influence over access to affordable housing, it is not the only player.

"Congressional gridlock has prevented big legislative measures from being implemented, and state and local governments also have a great deal of influence on housing affordability, particularly in land use and zoning," said Aniket Mehrotra, a policy assistant in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. "So, while the administration can influence and incentivize states and localities to loosen regulations to spur construction — which they have done through various grant programs — they can't control them."

The Biden administration was able to pull the levers at its disposal, experts said, and made changes to try to expand affordable housing access through various federal agencies, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Transportation and Treasury departments. This included issuing new guidance, making regulatory recommendations and awarding grant money — all things that don't require congressional approval.

"There is evidence to show that much has been done in this administration to increase access to affordable housing to the extent possible," Mehrotra said. "But this is a multifaceted problem and we know that addressing housing affordability requires all levels of government. There's no one change that's making housing affordable for all."

Biden made strides to increase housing affordability, but experts say congressional gridlock limited his efforts. We rate this Promise Compromise.

Although the Democrats have long sought to increase investment in affordable housing, that goal fell by the wayside as they negotiated provisions to earn the support of all 50 members in the Senate in a sweeping bill that includes tax, environment and health care provisions.

When it was introduced in 2021, the Build Back Better Act included about $170 billion for affordable housing. This would have put President Joe Biden on a path toward achieving his campaign promises on housing, including establishing a $100 billion fund to construct and upgrade affordable housing.

But those provisions do not appear in the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed the Senate on Aug. 7 with Vice President Kamala Harris' vote breaking a 50-50 tie.

Will Fischer, senior director of housing and research at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said the current legislation includes about $1 billion for affordable housing energy efficiency "but the large housing fund amounts in Build Back Better got left out of the final bill."

The funding is for energy and water efficiency and climate resilience in federally subsidized housing, all or almost all for renters. It can be used for projects that improve energy or water efficiency or enhance indoor air quality or zero-emission electricity generation or low-emission building materials. 

 U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and the National Association of Home Builders criticized the bill, saying it doesn't address the nation's affordable housing crisis. 

"With home prices and rents rising even faster than inflation, rising interest rates, and a growing scarcity of both entry-level owner-occupied housing as well as affordable rental units, Americans are being squeezed hard," the association stated. "Rent inflation increased in June at the fastest pace since 1986, yet the bill fails to include any resources to expand the supply of housing, including badly needed affordable rental housing."

The National Low Income Housing Coalition said that by failing to include the targeted investments in affordable-housing that were in the Build Back Better bill, "Congress risks missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help end homelessness and housing poverty in America."

The American Rescue Plan that Biden signed into law in 2021 included nearly $50 billion in housing and homelessness assistance, but that was largely for temporary emergencies. 

The House is expected to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in mid-August, and Biden has said he will sign it into law. Congress still has time to pass other legislation to invest in permanently expanding affordable housing, but Biden's campaign promise appears to be on ice for now. We rate this promise Stalled. 

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President Joe Biden's infrastructure proposal includes $213 billion to build and retrofit more than 2 million affordable housing units, a step toward his campaign promise to increase access to affordable housing.

Biden's proposal calls on Congress to pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which offers $20 billion worth of tax credits over the next five years to build and rehabilitate about 500,000 homes. 

Biden also wants $40 billion to improve public housing. Housing experts say that at least $70 billion in repairs are needed.

Biden's proposal is a step in the right direction, said Sarah Saadian, the National Low Income Housing Coalition's vice president of public policy. But because Biden leaves the details up to Congress, she said, "it's hard to know exactly what the outcomes would be." 

U.S. lawmakers discussed various housing bills at an April hearing, including the Restoring Communities Left Behind Act. It would establish a $5 billion grant program each year for a decade toward the purchase and redevelopment of vacant, abandoned or distressed properties for housing.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., plans to reintroduce the Housing Is Infrastructure Act to authorize over $200 billion in new funding, too.

Biden proposes using incentives, such as grants for jurisdictions that eliminate barriers to building affordable housing. 

The U.S. faced a shortage of affordable housing before the pandemic, but it has been exacerbated by the resulting economic decline and job losses. 

"Without affordable options, 10 million very low-income households spent more than half of their limited incomes on rent and utilities, leaving them one financial shock away from missing rent and facing eviction or in worse cases, homelessness," Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told the House Financial Services Committee April 14.

The American Rescue Plan that Biden signed into law in March includes nearly $50 billion in housing and homelessness assistance, largely for temporary emergencies. 

We will have to see if Congress passes legislation or a budget that fulfills Biden's promise to establish a $100 billion affordable housing fund to construction and upgrade housing. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.

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The housing-related provisions in the COVID-19 relief law align with President Joe Biden's campaign promise to increase access to affordable housing, although many of the provisions provide only temporary assistance.

The American Rescue Plan calls for about $47 billion in housing aid, said Douglas Rice, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The housing provisions include about $21.6 billion in emergency rental assistance, $10 billion in aid to homeowners, as well as money to help Native American communities and rural areas. 

The law allocates $5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which can be used to develop new affordable housing, but we don't yet know how states and local communities will use those dollars. That provision overlaps with Biden's promise to establish a $100 billion affordable housing fund and to expand the HOME program.

Overall, the housing provisions in the law are aimed at addressing the immediate consequences of the pandemic, Rice said.

"The emphasis here is providing temporary rental assistance as well as aid for homeowners experiencing financial hardship," he said.

In addition to the housing money in the law, the White House pointed to action by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend the eviction moratorium through March and Biden's action in February to extend the foreclosure moratorium for homeowners through June 30.

Affordable housing experts said it will take more than the American Rescue Plan to meet Biden's promise to increase the supply of affordable housing. The White House is expected to propose an infrastructure bill next, and housing advocates hope it includes affordable housing measures.

The United States faced a shortage of affordable housing before the pandemic, but it has been exacerbated by the resulting economic decline and job losses. 

"Much more will be needed to address the underlying shortage of affordable homes that existed before the pandemic and will continue to exist after it," said Jen Butler, of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "Just one in four households who qualify for housing assistance receives it due to decades of chronic underfunding by Congress."

The American Rescue Plan is a step toward Biden's promise to increase the supply of affordable housing, but he will need more substantial funding for permanent housing to achieve his campaign promise. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.

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