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On Wednesday, November 13, Community Home Trust hosted its first-ever Affordable Housing Fireside Chat with retired Congressman David Price and former housing advisor to President Obama and current nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, Jim Parrott. The discussion was sponsored by The Graduate Hotel, which also hosted the event; and Pinnacle Financial Partners, who provided the food and drinks. 

During the hour-long conversation, the panelists talked about federal housing policy in general, the history and nature of the policy challenge, how the politics of housing have shifted over time, and what we might expect going forward from a new administration. While the panelists focused primarily on their area of expertise – that is, housing policy and politics at the federal level – they emphasized their expectation that state and local housing advocates and organizations are going to be at the forefront of the work in the immediate future perhaps more than ever.  

“It does feel like the heavy lifting is going to come to the local level. It does not seem like we’re in a window in which the federal policy makers can step up in a dramatic way, so it really does fall to the local organizations like CHT to carry the water to deal with this mess that we’re in,” explained Parrott.  

Congressman Price agreed, emphasizing that our communities are depending on local advocates to make sure the federal government hears the need for investment in housing.

“There’s no question that given the election outcome and what we’re facing now at the federal level, whether we like it or not, this is going to be an arena for state and local initiatives, and that is what we’re going to depend on,” said Price. “Housing advocates: prepare right now to make a strong case for generous affordable housing tax credits. In this state we have a Housing Finance Agency that is very skilled, I think, and aggressive in taking advantage of these.”

Both Price and Parrott have a long history of working with multiple federal administrations on housing, and they have seen how entrenched the challenges are. But Parrott explained that while much about the issue has been largely unchanged for two decades or more, the gap in who the market is serving continues to widen. Where the lack of affordable housing used to be what he refers to as a “bottom 10% problem” — that is, a problem for those with incomes in the lowest 10% of the population — it is now a problem for more like the bottom 40% of incomes, which is why it has gotten more national attention, especially in the most recent election cycle.  

As for what’s next in a new Trump administration, Price and Parrott said they can only guess based on Trump’s first administration and the campaign promises he’s made. But both agreed that federal support for housing initiatives is unlikely to increase and may well take some big hits. Parrott suggested that the fact that housing stresses are ubiquitous and affecting all communities across the country could mean slightly more hope for the issue to stay in the national attention, and he says that Trump’s focus on tax policy could open the door for tax-side solutions to be proposed (as opposed to supply-side solutions such as increasing funding for HUD). But based on his experience with the first Trump administration, Price shared that he thinks what we’ll get out of this administration will be minimal. “Housing has remained an area of local initiative. It’s been a matter of locals doing the work and seeking the federal support, and certainly that’s the way I think it’s going to work in this period ahead.” 

If you weren’t able to join us for the Fireside Chat but want to hear the full conversation, you can watch the recording below.

Giving Tuesday, the unofficial start to the holiday giving season, is coming up on December 3. For the second year in a row, Community Home Trust will use donations received on this global day of generosity to replenish our Dowling Home Maintenance Fund.

After the Fireside Chat, CHT homeowner and board member Linda Fajardo shared more about this fund, which helps CHT homeowners finance repairs that are essential to their health and wellbeing as well as the long-term sustainability of their homes. You can learn more about the repairs that have been completed with last year’s Giving Tuesday donations here.

A generous donor has helped us kick off Giving Tuesday 2024 a few weeks early with a $6,000 match donation, which is a great start to help us reach our $15,000 goal! Please consider supporting this essential fund by making a Giving Tuesday donation today.