Housing affordability is at the forefront of several national efforts involving senior living industry advocates as uncertainty around the federal agency tasked with addressing the issue slashes funding and support staff.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Sec. Scott Turner is “presiding over historic cuts” that threaten to undermine the progress the agency has made in affordable housing and create bigger problems, according to Bloomberg.
Since January, HUD has lost close to one-third of its staff, payments to senior housing providers have been delayed and affordable housing developers are having a rougher time securing funding due to uncertainty at the federal level. And fiscal year 2026 doesn’t look much better, with Trump’s proposed “skinny budget” calling for a more than 40% funding cut to HUD.
Proposed partnership
In the midst of the uncertainty, the American Seniors Housing Association has joined a coalition of national real estate housing and advocacy groups calling on members of Congress to partner with them to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis.
A robust housing supply, the coalition wrote in a Sept. 2 letter to members of Congress, would play a “vital role” in promoting economic growth, attracting and retaining talent, and encouraging household stability. The group recommended a combination of “incentive-based programs, streamlined regulatory burdens and innovative solutions.”
Specifically, the coalition called for partnerships between the private and public sectors to increase the housing supply, as well as access in the form of subsidies and emergency housing support. Policies shifting cost burdens onto providers, however, only would exacerbate the housing crisis and cause smaller providers to exit the market entirely, coalition members said.
The group applauded recently enacted legislation designed to enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and finance up to 1.22 million additional affordable rental homes.
But the group further recommended passage of several bills that it said would have a positive effect on the housing affordability crisis by incentivizing housing development around transit corridors, directing HUD to publish guidelines and best practices for state and local zoning frameworks, establishing a HUD grant program to focus on missing middle and infill construction, reducing regulatory requirements to increase the development of affordable housing, approving HUD funding for affordable housing programs, and converting underused commercial properties into affordable housing.
”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.”
Faith-based affordable housing
Meanwhile, a federal bill reintroduced last week aims to provide grants to state and local governments to preserve or develop affordable housing by faith-based groups and higher education organizations.
The Yes in God’s Back Yard Act, SB 2720, would authorize $50 million in funding annually for six years for resources and incentives for faith-based organizations, higher education institutions and local governments to increase the supply of affordable housing on extra, unused land.
Funding would be authorized for the development and preservation of affordable housing for households at or below 60% of area median income, individuals at risk of homelessness, people with disabilities, intergenerational families and other special needs groups.
LeadingAge supports the bill and lists affordable housing among its top policy goals.