Affordable Housing: Biden vs Trump

A breakdown of Biden and Trump's record on affordable housing

May 15, 2024

On May 7th, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Biden administration was committing $5.5 billion in grants for affordable housing, community development, and homeless assistance.

Considering that housing costs are one of Gen Z’s top concerns, I thought it would be helpful to discuss housing, the Biden administration’s record on housing, and how it compares to Trump’s.

Housing Crisis is Real

In a recent Socialsphere poll from John Vella Dolpe, 51% of Gen Z said they regularly carry some stress about their housing situation.

According to a Harvard Youth Poll from 2023, 11% of people under 30 said they were very concerned they would be homeless one day.

As we will see in the following breakdown the contrast between Biden and Trump in each of those categories couldn’t be more different.

Biden’s Record on Housing

Rent vs Wage Growth and the Economy

Despite popular sentiment (and current interest rates), the economy under President Biden is doing pretty well. We have low unemployment, inflation is slowing, and wages are finally outpacing inflation. All of this plays an indirect factor in housing conversation. For instance, in comparison to Trump’s presidency, wage growth has exceeded rent rises under Biden.

Side note: Interest rates are a huge factor in the housing crisis, preventing people from both buying and selling their homes. For folks interested in a deep dive into the “myth” that interest rates need to be kept high to hold down inflation, check out this article from the Institute of New Economic Thinking. It breaks down the myth behind the “Wage Price Spiral,” which economists use to argue that high employment leads to inflation (spoiler: it doesn’t).

Biden’s HUD

During Biden’s administration, HUD has also been very active in attempting to address this issue.

Of the previously mentioned $5.5 billion investment, $1.3 billion is dedicated to supporting the construction of affordable housing.
They reduced mortgage insurance premiums on federally held loans, lowered closing costs, and improved access to mortgage credit.
They released a “Renters Bill of Rights” that provided renters more security by outlining their rights to organize and collectively bargain, protections against unjust evictions, and created requirements for transparency around fees and rent increases.
Biden has proposed a $10k tax credit for first-time home buyers, potentially impacting 3.5 million middle-class families.
Biden reversed Trump’s actions, which weakened the government’s ability to enforce housing discrimination laws.

The culmination of Biden’s actions has led to new housing construction hitting its highest peak in 50 years. A record 1.7 million homes are currently in construction.

Trump’s record on housing

In contrast to Biden, Donald Trump has a dismal record when it comes to housing policy.

Trump proposed an $8.6 billion cut to HUD’s budget, which included massive cuts to Public Housing and Section 8, critical housing programs that provide affordable housing.
He proposed significant rent increases for families and individuals living in subsidized housing, which would have resulted in rent tripling for some of the poorest Americans.
He attempted to privatize the public housing program, creating a windfall of profit for the real estate industry at the expense of poor Americans.
He rolled back federal oversight and enforcement of housing discrimination laws, repealing the Obama-era AFFH Rule that required municipalities to address patterns of racial segregation in housing to receive HUD funding.
In addition, Trump’s tax cuts negatively impacted middle-class homeowners, resulting in billions of dollars going to corporations and corporate landowners.

A lot of what Trump proposed has either been reversed by Biden or never went into effect thanks to Democratic control of the house. However, it is safe to say that the (allegedly) billionaire real estate tycoon, with a history of discriminatory housing practices, isn’t our best bet for solving America's housing crisis.

How to talk about this issue

This is the bottom line:

Donald Trump is a slumlord with a history of housing discrimination who owes his fortune to the real estate industry. As president, he tried to cut funding for the construction of new affordable housing, raised rents on lower-income people, made housing discrimination easier, and provided massive tax breaks for the wealthiest corporate landowners. The worst of his housing policies were only stifled by Democratic objections in the house.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, has implemented rules that protect renter’s rights, invested billions in the construction of new affordable housing, lowered mortgage payments for millions of Americans with federally held loans, and wants to make it easier for first-time home buyers by providing a $10k tax credit.

If you care about lower rent, affordable housing, and holding bad landlords accountable, the choice is clear.