Rethinking U.S. Rental Housing Policy

Bruce Katz, Margery Austin Turner

RR07-10: In recent years, housing has all but disappeared from national-level debate except for occasional discussions of a possible housing “bubble” and the all-too-brief concern about emergency housing needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Despite the lack of sustained attention, our country’s housing challenges are changing in ways that not only affect an expanding segment of the population, but also implicate other top domestic priorities. Some states and localities are starting to respond to these challenges in new and creative ways. But federal housing policy – particularly rental housing policy – is not getting the serious national attention it warrants…