Kamala Harris’ Past, Present, And Future With Housing
Americans want to know what’s next with housing now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Harris has touted her reputation as an affordable housing advocate throughout her career.
“During the foreclosure crisis, I took on the big Wall Street banks and won $20 billion for California families,” Harris said in a recent speech, referring to her time as California’s attorney general.
As vice president, Harris has publicly supported the Biden administration’s housing policies.
She supported the call to cap rent increases by 5% on landlords with 50 or more rental units on X, formerly Twitter, earlier this month.
“Every American deserves affordable housing,” she wrote.
With Harris’ support, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $5.5 billion budget to boost affordable housing and address homelessness in the U.S.
“Homeownership is an essential part of the American Dream that represents so much more than a roof over our heads,” Harris said in a statement. “This funding will build more affordable homes and support renters and homeowners while also lowering costs, building wealth, and creating jobs.”
If she becomes president, Harris will likely take the same tone with housing policy and largely stick to the plan rolled out under Biden.
“Harris’ housing policy record is effectively Biden’s housing policy record,” housing reporter Christian Britschgi wrote in a breakdown for Reason.
He noted that the housing policy she campaigned with in 2020 focused on closing the racial homeownership gap through a complex down payment assistance program based on income and area cost.
“[It was] a lot of moving parts for a policy that ultimately few people would qualify for and does nothing to address the most serious barrier to homeownership for people of all races: regulatory limits on the construction of new homes,” he wrote.
But a Harris presidency today, following Biden’s housing moves, would be forced to address new construction and housing turnover.
The White House announced plans earlier this year to encourage homeowners to sell their starter homes and move up through tax credits. Analysts’ opinions differ on whether this would be an effective way to boost inventory. Still, the move indicates the administration understands that the high-cost housing market is keeping families locked into their current homes.
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