New Industry Advocacy Campaign Launched.

Housing-related issues are taking on a critical importance in communities across the nation, however the traditional housing policy is ill-equipped to solve most of these challenges, according to the National Apartment Association (NAA) and National Multi Housing Council (NMHC).

In an effort to encourage a fresh look at our housing programs, NAA/NMHC launched a major advocacy campaign in support of a more balanced national housing policy.

The initiative urges policy makers to abandon their focus on homeownership and concentrate instead on ensuring that all Americans have access to decent and affordable housing, regardless of whether they rent or own.

The centerpiece of this new effort is a four-color brochure, Toward a More Balanced Housing Policy, which outlines five principles for a smarter housing policy. Using a combination of third party testimonials and resident profiles, the brochure says that the U.S. national housing policy has failed to keep pace with today's market realities, the needs of communities, and the changing preferences of the population.

In addition to affording everyone access to decent and affordable housing, a balanced housing policy should also:

* Respect the rights of individuals to choose the housing that best meets their financial and lifestyle needs;

* Promote healthy and livable communities by encouraging responsible land use and promoting the production of all types of housing;

* Recognize that all decent housing, including apartment homes, and all citizens, including residents, make positive economic, political and social contributions to their communities; and

* Balance the expected benefits of regulations with their costs to minimize the impact on housing affordability.

The complete brochure is posted online at www.nmhc.org/joint/default.html, or is available by calling 202/974-2354.

Affordable Housing Shortage Documented

Several studies were released in June and July further documenting the nation's worsening affordable housing crisis.

In its State of the Cities 2000 report, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) detailed how the booming national economy is exacerbating the housing crunch faced by many families.

According to HUD, the same economic growth that is increasing employment and household income is also driving up rents and housing prices.

From 1997-99, house prices rose at more than twice the general rate of inflation. Of the 25 metro areas which are top high-tech markets, 21 had rent increases greater than inflation.

From 1995-99, rents surged more than 20 percent in Denver and San Francisco, and more than 15 percent in six other major markets. The report calls for new incremental housing vouchers, new housing production vouchers and other incentives to encourage the affordable housing construction. The report is available at www.hud.gov/pressrel/socrpt.pdf.

A separate study by the Center for Housing Policy highlighted the housing needs of moderate-income families, which it says have been largely ignored.

Housing America's Working Families reports that approximately three million of the 14 million families with critical housing needs are moderate-income families that work the equivalent of a full-time job.

These households jumped 17 percent from 1995-97. The Center for Housing Policy says the lack of decent, affordable housing is increasingly impeding local economic growth, and it calls for a national housing policy that meets the needs of moderate- and middle-income families, not just the poor.

Specific recommendations include: more federal support for affordable housing construction and the expansion of existing rental assistance programs. This report is available by calling 202/393-5772.

Finally, Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies issued its State of the Nation's Housing: 2000 report, a comprehensive examination of the economic, demographic and social trends affecting the future of housing in America.

It too stresses the mounting challenges to housing affordability in the wake of increasing home prices and rents, and the loss of 90,000 units of privately-owned but federally-subsidized housing. The study notes that as of 1994, the most recent data available, one in eight housing voucher recipients was unable to find suitable housing.

Looking specifically at the multifamily housing market, rents rose faster than inflation for the third consecutive year, and apartment home demand increased four percent, thanks to increases in single-person households, the influx of immigrants, and the movement of the echo boomers into their 20s.

By 2015, the number of residents under age 25 is expected to increase by over one million.

The report also notes the fast pace of residential construction that is fueling increasing concerns about sprawl, as well as the demographic shifts over the coming decade that will create several new opportunities for the housing industry.

The report is available at www.gsd.harvard.edu/jcenter/.

Information compiled by NAA/NMHC Joint Legislative Staff: Senior Vice President Clarine Nardi Riddle; Vice President of Tax Jim Arbury; Vice President of Communications Kim Duty; Vice President of Property Management Jay Harris; Vice President of Environment Eileen Lee; Vice President of Housing and Finance Stephen Lefkovits; and Vice President of Building Codes Ron Nickson.