Housing is a cornerstone of American life—a key determinant of economic opportunities, health and safety, educational outcomes, and more. Yet today, the US faces a national housing crisis, wherein home prices and rents have risen significantly and the largest number of Americans on record are experiencing homelessness. The promise of safe, stable, and affordable housing is moving out of reach for millions of Americans across incomes and generations—for first-time homebuyers, cost-burdened renters, and unhoused individuals alike.

Underlying Causes of the Housing Crisis

Fundamentally, there is not enough housing to meet demand, thanks to chronic underbuilding since the Great Recession. An interconnected web of factors—including restrictive zoning and land-use policies, rising development costs, and financing barriers—have restricted homebuilding and driven up rental prices, while climate change and an aging housing stock pose impending challenges to addressing the crisis. Additionally, long-standing racial and ethnic discrimination and disinvestment, largely a product of historic government policy and practice, have further deepened housing disparities.

Leveraging Federal Policy to Address Housing Challenges

Despite these large and interconnected challenges, the US can solve this problem just as it has tackled even larger housing challenges in the past. Successfully meeting this moment will once again require large-scale federal leadership to galvanize state and local action. Urban is providing this road map of federal policy levers, backed by data and evidence, to help inform policymakers’ strategies to address this crisis.

The proposed levers include long-term supply-side solutions and immediate supports for households across the housing spectrum to address housing needs. They range from major legislative reforms—which have high potential impact but will take time to enact, structure, and implement—to relatively small-scale changes to existing programs that may be easier to put in place and could have a more immediate impact.