For all his analytical failings, David Broder is a great reporter. Today's column highlights one of the best parts of the recent housing bill, a trust fund to develop more low-income housing by siphoning money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Sheila Crowley, an affordable housing advocate, notes that this is the first expansion of affordable housing Congress has passed since 1990 and the first targeting low-income people since 1974. I pointed out yesterday that affordable housing need has reached its highest level since 1990, so this is a great time for Congress to put what looks like a steady, long-term stream of funding towards the problem.
Two caveats: $300 million a year is a lot of money to you and me, but it is a drop in the bucket in terms of the development and subsidization needed on a national scale. Second, one oft-overlooked problem with public and affordable housing is maintenance funding, which often times results in large housing projects with numerous uninhabitable units. One expert I spoke to said that $30 billion was the amount needed to completely renovate and recapitalize the nation's affordable and subsidized housing stock.
--Tim Fernholz
