How to Increase Housing Supply and Access to Safe Financing
Jeffrey Greenberg
Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ housing policy initiative works to help policymakers address the high cost of housing by studying availability, financing, and zoning and land-use regulations.
Housing is most families’ largest household expenditure, and millions of Americans are struggling to meet the rising costs of rent and homeownership. Pew conducts research to explore the challenges that consumers face and how better policy can help overcome barriers to housing availability and boost people’s access to safe financing. Pew’s work also highlights states that offer scalable solutions that reduce homelessness and make housing more affordable.
For most Americans, housing is their largest regular expense, but an acute housing shortage of an estimated 4 million to 7 million homes and resulting skyrocketing rents and home prices mean millions more households are struggling to afford housing than in the recent past. Policymakers at all levels are looking at ways to help expand the supply.
Housing costs to buy or rent in Virginia are near an all-time high, driven by a housing shortage estimated at 105,000 homes that reaches most regions of the commonwealth. Nationally, half of American households who rent are spending at least 30% of their income to do so, and a majority of low-income households spend at least 50%.
Arizona policymakers, like their peers in other states, are considering how to respond to a nationwide housing shortage that is pushing rents and housing costs to record levels. From August 2017 to August 2023, rental prices across Arizona surged by 53%, with even higher percentages in Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, and Phoenix. Although Arizona has long been known for its affordability, 53% of Phoenix-area renters in multi-family housing are now cost-burdened, spending 30% or more of income on rent.
In this episode, we hear from Montana state lawmakers Daniel and Katie Zolnikov about the bipartisan legislation they championed to address rising concerns about access to housing. And Indigenous advocates in Montana, Jody Cahoon Perez, Tonya Plummer, and Patrick Yawakie, discuss how they’re helping their Tribal communities seek more affordable and culturally appropriate housing.
Spurred by high and rising housing costs, policymakers across the country are seeking ways to make homes more affordable for Americans at all income levels.
