The National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) have outlined the apartment industry’s 2022 policy priorities, which include supporting credible strategies to address housing affordability, increasing funding for unmet infrastructure needs, and pursuing labor and immigration policies that ensure an adequate workforce supply.
The two industry groups said they are focusing on issues that reflect the near-term concerns of the housing crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the broader need to maintain the health and competitiveness of the rental housing industry over the long term.
The nation’s apartment industry and its residents contribute $3.4 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and support 17.5 million jobs while providing homes to 40.1 million residents. As their advocates, NAA and NMHC said they are committed to working on issues that reduce operational risk and enable efficient operations, preserve housing affordability, and ensure the continued viability of rental housing providers.
They are urging Congress and the Biden administration to:
- Support credible and proven policies to address housing affordability and stability, including financial assistance for renters, while opposing approaches that undermine the effective operation and financial health of rental housing—such as rent control and eviction measures that unduly burden necessary operations;
- Maintain and expand tax policy that preserves and encourages investment in multifamily housing;
- Promote strategies that reduce barriers to new construction and rehabilitation to address housing supply shortages;
- Ensure dedicated assistance is available for renters and property owners to maintain the stability of America’s renters and the housing industry at large;
- Increase funding and improve the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to enable greater private housing provider participation and expand affordable housing options for low- and moderate-income Americans;
- Support funding for unmet infrastructure needs that directly impact housing;
- Expand operational risk coverage as it relates to cybersecurity, liability, pandemics and reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program;
- Ensure federal fair housing policy protects equal opportunity in housing while supporting housing providers’ ability to develop, own, and operate their properties without undue risk and compliance uncertainty;
- Enact a federal data privacy, security, and breach notification standard that preempts the patchwork of state laws that leave consumers vulnerable and impose burdensome compliance obligations;
- Accelerate broadband deployment and modernization in multifamily communities across the country, protect the current facilities-based partnership model that encourages digital infrastructure expansion, and enable consumer access, affordability, and connectivity;
- Ensure the continued ability by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration to provide adequate capital financing to the apartment industry;
- Preserve necessary resident screening tools and ensure that consumer reporting reforms do not make screening impracticable or hinder apartment providers from properly managing risk;
- Pursue labor and immigration policy that ensures an adequate workforce supply for the multifamily industry; and
- Pursue innovative, cost-effective energy-efficiency strategies that incentivize sustainable and resilient communities.
