Our Solution to the Housing Crisis by AOC

There is another way: social housing. Instead of treating real estate as a commodity, we can underwrite the construction of millions of homes and apartments that, by law, must remain affordable. Some would be rental units; others would offer Americans the opportunity to build equity. These models of rent caps and homeownership are already working around the world, such as in Vienna, and in some parts of the United States.

Our housing development authority wouldn’t be focused on maximizing profit or returns to shareholders. Rent would be capped at 25 percent of a household’s adjusted annual gross income. Homes would be set aside for lower-income families in mixed-income buildings and communities. And every home would be built to modern, efficient standards, which would cut residents’ utility costs. Renters wouldn’t have to worry about the prospect of a big corporation buying up the building and evicting everyone. Some could even come together to purchase their buildings outright.

To fund social housing construction, our development authority would rely on a combination of congressional spending and Treasury-backed loans, making financing resilient to the volatility of our housing market and the political winds of the annual appropriations process.