CAP Unveils Major Plan To Lower Housing Costs And Tackle America’s Affordability Crisis

By Center for American Progress Photos: Wikimedia Commons Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress launched a major new effort to tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis and boost economic mobility for middle-class families. CAP released “Build, Baby, Build: A Plan To Lower Housing Costs for All“—a bold blueprint to lower housing costs, accelerate construction, and strengthen communities nationwide. The plan would close our 2 million housing gap within five years and could save renters in the highest-cost communities an estimated $1,000 per year and first-time homebuyers about $24,000 on their purchase. This plan is the first in a series of ideas CAP will be putting forward to confront the broader affordability challenges facing families and the broader American economy. The release comes as new election results and national polling show that affordability and the economy remain voters’ top concerns. According to recent surveys, most Americans say they feel “stuck” financially, unable to get ahead as prices for rent, mortgages, and insurance climb. CAP outlines a robust federal agenda to build more homes, lower costs, and cut red tape, including: Launching a Rent Relief for Reform (R3) program to drive rapid homebuilding in “Housing Cost Crisis Zones” through a carrot-and-stick approach. Communities that significantly increase housing production would unlock new federal funding to effectively freeze rental costs and forgo access to certain federal grants if they do not. Establishing an “ARPA-Home” initiative to fund breakthrough innovation in construction technology and materials for factory-built modular homes, boosting productivity and lowering costs. Scaling modular, manufactured, and other factory-built housing through modernization of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) code, expanded financing, and federal procurement tools such as the Defense Production Act to help homebuilders achieve scale and reduce construction costs by up to $10,000 per unit. Driving mixed-income public development by empowering local and state governments to invest directly in affordable housing and reinvest returns into future projects. Unlocking new sources of capital for housing supply by leveraging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the acquisition of construction loans. Rolling back Trump administration tariffs on building materials, which could add $135 billion to home construction costs over five years. Cracking down on rent-setting algorithms, junk rental fees, and excessively high closing costs, which can take hundreds of dollars per year from renters’ pockets and add thousands of dollars to the cost of buying or refinancing a home. “Too many Americans are working hard but can’t afford a roof over their heads,” said Jared Bernstein, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, senior fellow at CAP, and co-author of the plan. “This plan seeks to change that, with a powerful set of policies that will build more houses and apartments with the speed and scale the moment demands.” “The message from Americans couldn’t be clearer,” said Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress. “People want leaders focused on lowering costs and expanding opportunity, not tax cuts for the wealthy or tariffs that make everything more expensive. This initiative is about putting affordability first.” Housing costs have risen more than 30 percent nationwide since 2020, and half of renters now spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent. The plan offers an actionable road map for policymakers to address the affordability crisis that voters say defines their economic anxiety. Read the plan: “Build, Baby, Build: A Plan To Lower Housing Costs” by Jared Bernstein, Michael Negron, Natalie Baker, and Chad Maisel