Congress To Fund More Affordable Housing

"The number of households spending more than half their income on housing has risen sharply – up 1.2 million to 17 million from 2004 to 2005. Owners and renters, middle-income and poor, 1 in 7 households carry this burden – most of them low-income Americans, according to a June report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government."

"The data cover a time before the slump really slouched, but the affordability problem will continue, the center's researchers believe. As the ownership market softens, the rental market tightens, and that especially hurts poor families and seniors. Incomes have stagnated or declined, and job growth is more in lower and higher paying jobs – less in the middle ones. State and federal resources pale next to the problem."

"The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing next week on a bill that's a significant new federal effort at affordable housing. The legislation, introduced by Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts, aims to build, preserve, or rehab 1.5 million housing units over the next 10 years."

"That's a little less than half of what's needed, according to housing advocates, but the bill wisely builds on lessons learned over decades – for instance, favoring mixed-income developments over isolated poor areas, and placing housing near jobs and transport to buttress earning power."