It started with the popular desire to dissolve what some consider to be the cause of the 2008 melt-down - Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and has spread to rethinking the tax write-off of home ownership - a clearly unpopular notion for many.
The administration published a report on Feb. 11 that analyzed the option of dissolving Fannie and Freddie and how to replace their function. The report noted doing such would most certainly "raise the cost of mortgage loans and push homeownership beyond the reach of some families." The administration doesn't appear to be deterred by that possibility though.
"...administration officials said they had concluded the country could no longer afford to sustain its commitment to minting homeowners. Better to help some people rent."
The government "must help to ensure that all Americans have access to quality housing that they can afford," the report said. "This does not mean our goal is for all Americans to be homeowners."
From History News Network: Origins of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?: "Fannie Mae was created in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. The collapse of the national housing market in the wake of the Great Depression discouraged private lenders from investing in home loans. Fannie Mae was established in order to provide local banks with federal money to finance home mortgages in an attempt to raise levels of home ownership and the availability of affordable housing...."
Read the full story: Administration Calls for Cutting Aid to Home Buyers
‘Renters Bill of Rights’ One Step Closer to Reality
The Biden administration could strengthen tenant protections on a national scale by leveraging federally backed mortgages to mandate rent stabilization and bar discrimination in rental housing.
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae to Back $1 Million Mortgages
Expensive housing markets are about to cross a symbolic threshold.
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Housing is the top priority of Seattle’s sole new councilmember
Jenks campaigned on building 1,000 new units of affordable housing.
New tax cuts may slash $1.5 billion in funding for Miami transit, public parks
Amendment 3 will save Miami-Dade homeowners $2,700 in 2028.
Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania hope to finally advance climate goals post-midterms
The three states have spent years under Republican or divided control.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority