August 19, 2024 | Kailey Truczinskas
There is no one solution that will solve the problem of corporate ownership of affordable housing units. A combination of policy change on the local, state, and federal levels will help, and the expansion of programs that support current or prospective homeowners can mitigate some of the impact.
In December 2022 HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge’s remarks during a quarterly meeting of the Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) to specifically address the challenges as well as create solutions stated: “Institutional investors have access to resources that make them impossible to compete with. This is especially true for minority first-time homebuyers, who already face institutional barriers.” Fudge added: “HUD has taken steps to ensure that our defaulted assets will land in the hands of non-profits or individual owners, but this is a much bigger problem that will take everyone coming together to figure out how to sustain housing that people can afford.”
The silver-lining is that government, local jurisdictions, non-profits and community groups are collaborating across the country to create and implement solutions that will give homeowners and first-time homebuyers a fighting chance to participate in creating generational wealth.