The Market Alone Can’t Fix the U.S. Housing Crisis

In August, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that housing was one of the core features of her economic platform, a position she echoed in the September presidential debate . In a speech laying out her plan — the first major policy announcement of her candidacy for president — she introduced a goal of building 3 million new housing units , using tax credits to promote construction, to address the supply problem that has contributed to higher prices. But she also voiced support for policies that would ban setting rents with algorithmic pricing systems and introduce new regulations for corporate landlords. This follows the Biden-Harris administration’s plan to cap annual rent increases for large landlords at 5% over the next two years.