The National Multifamily Housing Coalition (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA) have launched a new website called Growing Homes Together (www.growinghomestogether.org) to provide an online resource for housing-affordability solutions at the state and local levels, according to a release.
“Families are struggling to afford housing costs and communities are looking for solutions to end the affordability crisis that do not involve outdated policy solutions or overregulation,” said Doug Bibby, NMHC President, in the release.
“Our goal with Growing Homes Together is to highlight the policy solutions that will make a meaningful impact on people’s lives, provide roadmaps to reducing barriers to address housing shortages, and demonstrate the progress that is possible when local, state and federal governments come together with advocates, residents and industry leaders in the interest of all American families.”
The housing coalition said a growing number of Americans – at all income levels – are struggling to find housing they can afford, creating a strain on those families.
Growing Homes Together online hub outlines three key steps to alleviate this burden:
- Address the tremendous shortage of homes and remove barriers to adding more supply.
- Develop and implement creative, public-private partnership opportunities to bring price points down and create more affordable housing.
- Use targeted subsidies to help families that are in the most need right now.
The site includes state- and community-specific facts and data, historical perspectives on housing policy, details on legislation under consideration across the country, and resources for those who may want to get involved.
In addition, the site will feature critical background information about the housing crisis, the latest news and perspectives about housing affordability, and the facts and figures that policymakers, advocates, renters and developers need in order to develop and deliver meaningful solutions that provide relief for families struggling to afford their rent.
Growing Homes Together also provides context around failed or outdated laws. Specifically, the site highlights the harms associated with rent control, a form of government-enforced price control first enacted in the post-WWII economy to help returning soldiers. Rent-control policies no longer help lower-income populations, as they originally were intended to do. They actually exacerbate housing shortages, and disproportionally benefit higher-income households.
Growing Homes Together advocates for a wider range of housing options, giving Americans greater choice, and proactive policy solutions that do what they are intended to do: make housing more affordable.
Growing Homes Together launches with detailed information about how rent control affects 14 states across the country, including the housing solutions under consideration in those states. The initial states profiled on the site include: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin, with more states coming soon.
The site also features ways for concerned citizens to get involved by joining an email list and following Growing Homes Together on Twitter and Facebook.
To learn more, please visit growinghomestogether.org.
About the NMHC
Based in Washington, D.C., the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) is the leadership of the trillion-dollar apartment industry. The council brings together prominent apartment owners, managers and developers, who help create thriving communities by providing apartment homes for 39 million Americans. NMHC provides a forum for insight, advocacy and action that enables both members and the communities they help build to succeed. For more information, contact NMHC at 202/974-2300, e-mail the Council at info@nmhc.org, or visit NMHC’s web site at www.nmhc.org