When was the last presidential election in which the candidates had a real debate about housing? In most elections, housing isn’t an issue at all, though it touches every American’s life. Even when millions of Americans lost their homes during the Great Recession, discussion of the issue was relatively muted. Few voters know who the secretary of Housing and Urban Development is (if you recognize the name Adrianne Todman, pat yourself on the back), and most campaigns feature little or no discussion of how we might make finding a place to live more affordable.
But this year, it’s finally becoming an issue, thanks in part to Kamala Harris. The vice president could be the first YIMBY (“yes, in my backyard”) president, and it could be her secret weapon for energizing young voters.
In a new NBC News poll, 31% of voters under 30 listed inflation and the cost of living as their top issue. “About 7 in 10 young voters said that debt has caused them to delay at least one major life milestone,” reports NBC News, with homeownership the most commonly delayed milestone. When asked whether they thought owning a home would be easier or harder for their generation than for that of their parents, 84% said it would be harder, and 64% said much harder.
Eventual home ownership is only part of the story; for most young people, the cost of rent is what matters today. Both home prices and rents have grown faster than incomes across the country in recent years. A recent Harvard University study found that half of all renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
There are many reasons why rents and home prices are high, but most of them come down to a housing shortage: We simply don’t have enough homes, and we aren’t building them fast enough. Estimates of the size of the shortage vary, but they fall between 3 million and 7 million homes. As this problem has become more acute, some have pointed the finger at “not in my backyard” sentiment: those Americans, in both liberal and conservative areas, who express support for affordable housing, zoning and land use reform and other policy improvements — so long as it’s not where they live.
As the country’s housing shortage has worsened, those who say “yes in my backyard,” especially to multifamily, affordable housing have been steadily gaining strength. Among YIMBYs’ targets are zoning rules prohibiting multifamily dwellings, laws banning accessory dwelling units, and lengthy permitting processes that slow down construction. While the YIMBY movement is more typically liberal than conservative, it has opponents on the left, including environmentalist groups who are wary of developers. Of the 54 House and Senate co-sponsors of the “Yes In My Backyard Act” currently in Congress, one-third are Republicans, and the House Financial Services Committee approved that chamber’s version of the bill unanimously.
Policies that would spur the building of more homes poll incredibly well, garnering the support of as many as 4 in 5 respondents. So the issue of housing affordability was just waiting for a candidate to pick it up and run — especially one who was worried about mobilizing young voters.
That’s what Harris has tried to do with her recently announced housing plan, which sets a goal of building 3 million more homes in the next four years. She would provide tax credits and incentives for builders and local governments to accelerate the construction of new homes, including multifamily homes.








