National Fair Housing Alliance Issues Statement in Response to Biden Administration Unveiling Steps to Increase Affordable Housing Supply

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 2, 2021

Media Contact: Izzy Woodruff | 202-898-1661 | IWoodruff@nationalfairhousing.org

National Fair Housing Alliance Issues Statement in Response to Biden Administration Unveiling Steps to Increase Affordable Housing Supply

Washington, D.C. — The nation’s leading fair housing organization applauded the Biden Administration’s efforts to boost the country’s stock of affordable housing, and implores the White House to prescribe a more targeted solution to address the widened gap between homeowners and renters, the disproportionate majority being people of color. Nikitra Bailey, The National Fair Housing Alliance’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, issued the following statement: 

“The Biden Administration took an important step to address the nation’s lack of affordable housing units. 

“While we applaud their plan to make available 100,000 affordable homes over the next three years, we recognize that much more remains to be done to ensure equity for Black and Brown families, who have a long history of being underserved by the nation’s housing policies. 

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, almost two years ago, existing homeowners have gained more than $1 trillion in new wealth because of housing prices increasing nearly 25 percent. Because renters are disproportionately people of color, the increases in wealth have largely left most Black and Brown people further behind without the safety net that home equity provides to homeowners. Wealthier families have used their home equity to weather economic disruptions during the COVID-19 induced recession.

“To help reduce harm, we’re calling on the Federal government to work more closely with states to ensure that Black and Brown renters remain in their homes as the nation faces a looming eviction crisis. 

“We’re also calling on the administration to support legislation, like the Downpayment Toward Equity Act that would provide $100 billion as a critical first step to help close persistent racial homeownership and wealth gaps that are the legacy of federal exclusionary housing policies.

“We look forward to working with the administration to remediate the systems that continue to perpetuate exclusion of underserved communities from housing opportunities. In doing so, we can promote overall economic growth and create opportunity for all people.”

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The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. Through its homeownership, credit access, tech equity, education, member services, public policy, community development, and enforcement initiatives, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.