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Memo from our CEO: My week in Washington with Habitat on The Hill 2025
The U.S. is facing an extraordinary housing crisis, with families around the country forced to make impossible choices between housing and other basic needs like food, healthcare, and childcare. Current estimates indicate our country needs almost 850,000 more homes to meet this critical need.
Housing stress in California reflects trends across the country:
- 82% of renters and 69% of homeowners in California spend more than 30% of their income on housing
- California residents need to make $203,072 per year to afford a median-priced home
In the Bay Area especially, housing is prohibitively expensive for far too many. In California, for example, residents need an annual income of $203,072 to afford a median-priced home. One in five California families spends more than half their income on housing, while 82% of renters and 69% of homeowners spend more than 30% of their income to keep a roof over their heads. This problem affects not only today’s residents but also future generations.
Immediate, large-scale action is needed. I raised this urgency with policymakers when I was in Washington last week joining scores of affordable housing advocates for our annual Habitat on the Hill event. Collectively, we met with dozens of policymakers on both sides of the aisle, including Congresswoman Lateefah Simon and the offices of Congresswoman Pelosi and Congressman Huffman, to discuss vital action that can improve the affordability of the country’s housing.
I was joined by fellow housing advocates and proud Habitat homeowner Andie Rounds, who shared how owning a home has been nothing short of transformative for her and her family – providing them with the stability, security and opportunity every family deserves. Together, we asked congressmembers to address affordable homeownership specifically, while also supporting legislation that increases housing availability in all ways. There is little federal or state funding aimed at bringing homeownership, as opposed to affordable rentals, within reach. This is despite its great benefits: U.S. homeowners’ average net wealth is 400% higher than similar renters, and home equity represents the largest proportion of wealth (34.5%) for U.S. households.
We stressed to lawmakers that the private market alone cannot address the nationwide supply shortage of starter homes. We desperately need legislative action and federal and state funding.
With a lot of change happening in Washington right now, the one thing everyone can agree on is the urgent need for safe, affordable housing for all. This was a major issue for voters in this last election, and it is time for Congress to act. We urged lawmakers to support existing successful programs through appropriations in the FY2026 budget, champion new policy ideas, and support incentives through the tax code.
Existing programs lawmakers should support
We advocated for lawmakers to support the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), both in the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill. SHOP awards grants to nonprofit organizations to develop housing for low-income people who otherwise could not become homeowners, and HOME provides grants to states and localities to fund activities that bring more affordable housing to the rental and homebuying markets, or that provide direct rental assistance.
Another program that we urged lawmakers to support is the USDA Section 502 Direct Loan Program in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill. This program provides housing payment assistance to applicants in rural areas to help them secure decent housing.
A new initiative for lawmakers to get behind
We asked members of Congress to support a new program — the Homeownership Supply Accelerator, a concept that Habitat developed to increase starter home supply nationwide. The shortage of starter homes is keeping workers from accessing job markets, dragging down local economies, increasing the wealth gap, and forcing millions to remain renting, which bumps up the cost and scarcity of rental units.
We envision the Accelerator as a new source of financial assistance to support property acquisition, new home construction and rehabilitation, and other activities that help developers serve modest-income homebuyers. There is currently no federal program exclusively focused on supporting these activities for homeownership.
How Congress can use the tax code to help housing
We also asked members of Congress to include housing and community development provisions in the next tax package. Specifically, we advocated for making permanent or extending the New Markets Tax Credit program that is set to expire at the end of 2025. We also recommended that they include the bipartisan Neighborhood Homes Investment Act introduced by Senator Young (R-IN) and Warner (D-VA) and Representatives Kelly (R-PA-16) and Larson (D-CT-1). This Act dedicates federal tax credits to mobilize private investors to build and rehabilitate homes for low- and moderate-income homeowners.
A moment for optimism
My many conversations this week have shown me that there is enthusiasm for these ideas in the halls of Congress. I ended my week in DC feeling optimistic despite the many challenges our cause of advancing affordable homeownership still faces. We have a lot of work ahead, and we need your continued support. Reach out to your representatives, ask that they take action and continue to check back at our website to find the many ways you can support affordable homeownership in our communities.
My heartfelt thanks,
Maureen