A coalition including the American Seniors Housing Association and 18 real estate-related organizations is encouraging members of Congress to pursue solutions to increase the housing supply in all markets, and at all price points, to address housing affordability in the United States.
ASHA is part of the Housing Affordability Coalition, which represents a broad group of housing providers. In a Tuesday letter formally addressed to representatives but referencing Congress throughout, the coalition recommended the passage of several bipartisan bills and proposals that include incentive-based programs, streamlined regulatory burdens and other solutions to address the situation and help increase the nation’s housing supply.
“Housing has always been a bipartisan issue,” the coalition wrote. “Policymakers at every level of government have a role to play in removing obstacles to housing production and preservation, and in addressing the housing affordability challenges that have faced this country for decades.”
Although some of the proposals outlined in the letter may appear to be more suited to one housing sector or another, ASHA Vice President of Government Affairs Jeanne McGlynn Delgado told McKnight’s Senior Living that the overall improvements, expansions and creation of new policies being called for would greatly benefit the senior living industry as well.
Among the recommendations the coalition asked Congress to immediately take action on:
- The Yes In My Back Yard Act, which is meant to eliminate discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers that the group said depress production of housing in the United States.
- Eliminate minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements and prohibitions on multifamily and manufactured housing, which the coalition said represent “exclusionary” zoning and “harmful” land use policies.
- The Choice in Affordable Housing Act, which has the goal of addressing overlapping and redundant programmatic procedures that the coalition says have deterred owners and operators from participating in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.
The coalition also encouraged Congress to consider several tax proposals that would affect housing affordability:
- Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would expand and enhance low-income housing tax credit to enable more affordable housing. The LIHTC program has been used to provide assisted living housing and care to lower income residents. Then coupled with a Medicaid waiver and even a Section 8 housing voucher, senior living becomes a viable option for older adults, Delgado said.
- The Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit included in the Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All, or DASH, Act would address the shortage of workforce housing. Modeled after the LIHTC, the MIHTC takes over where LIHTC leaves off and is designed to benefit populations earning below 100% of the area median income. Expanding the LIHTC and MIHTC programs can provide greater opportunities for owners and operators to offer an affordable option, as well as opportunities to increase affordable housing options for senior living workers, Delgado said.
- The Revitalizing Downtowns Act would provide a 20% tax credit to convert office buildings into other uses, including residential spaces. ASHA is working with its real estate coalition to seek support for this initiative, while also seeking changes to make it more relevant to the senior living sector..
- The coalition would like to see the Opportunity Zones program improved to also incentivize the rehabilitation of existing multifamily units.
- Energy Efficient Qualified Improvement Property, or E-QUIP, Act introduced last year would spur the replacement of aging building components that most impact building energy consumption, including heating and cooling systems, lighting and building envelope components.
“Any efforts to reduce or streamline regulations, such as those found in the YIMBY Act and the call for elimination of exclusionary zoning practices, will be a step forward in addressing any unnecessary and harmful regulations,” Delgado said.
Strong partnerships between the private and public sectors are necessary to address solutions that support increasing housing supply at all price points, the coalition said.
“Without investment in our nation’s housing, we will face housing instability and affordability challenges now and in the future,” members wrote, throwing their support behind the Biden administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan. The coalition urged Congress to enact policies within the plan, which addresses reformed zoning and land-use policies as well as financing mechanisms to build and preserve more housing.
The coalition also called on Congress to reject proposals in the fiscal year 2024 budget that frequently are targeted as “revenue raisers,” including those repealing carried interest, increasing capital gains rates, recapturing depreciation reductions as ordinary income, and limiting deferral of gain from a like-kind exchange — all issues Delgado said that ASHA is closely monitoring.
“While this letter is not an exhaustive list of legislative policies and initiatives to solve the housing affordability challenges, it does reflect key real estate-specific measures that can incrementally improve the overall landscape,” Delgado said. “It also underscores the complexity of solving for affordability and that it will take an ‘all of the above’ approach to be successful.”
Other affordable housing measures ASHA is targeting
In addition to the measures mentioned in the letter, Delgado said, ASHA is prioritizing legislative policies such as immigration reform. She said that ASHA is encouraged by several proposals introduced this year as well as other coming “commonsense” solutions, including those that would accelerate worker permits for asylees; create a new visa category for essential workers; grant Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy beneficiaries a pathway to permanent legal status; and address border security while creating a path to legal status for undocumented workers already in the country.
“As we know, the senior living workforce shortage has created a significant cost burden on owners and operators due to inflated agency costs and increased overtime, not to mention overall inflation and increased interest rates,” she said. “Without an adequate supply of workers — such as caregivers, nurses, dining staff and housekeepers — it will become increasingly difficult to offer a product affordable to the growing number of older adults who will need our services.”
