ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has proposed new legislation that would provide relief to people who are impacted by the housing affordability issues across the country.
The four pieces of legislation addresses different aspects of the housing market, including providing some Americans credits for rent and providing first-generation and first time homebuyers with grants.
“I hear from young people all of the time that they don’t believe they will ever have a pathway to home ownership,” Sen. Warnock said. “They pay so much for rent that they aren’t able to save and housing costs are just too expensive.”
According to Zillow, the median price of a metro Atlanta home is $385,000.
Georgia officials say the rent relief act would provide low and middle class Americans relief by “subsidizing a percentage of their rents that exceed cost burden thresholds (more than 30% of their income).”
“We have a housing affordability and availability crisis in this country and I’m especially concerned about young Americans and their ability to pay rent or buy their first home,” Sen. Warnock said. “Last year, we actually saw the largest increase in rental costs in a decade, while the share of first-time homebuyers reached an all-time low. Georgia has the lowest homeownership rate in the entire Southeast.”
The Down Payment Toward Equity Act would create a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program which would provide first generation and first time home buyers grants to cover down payment, closing and interest rate reduction costs.
Officials say the Stop Predatory Investing Act, would make it illegal for investors who buy 50 or more new single-family rental homes to file federal tax deductions for interest or depreciation on those properties.