WASHINGTON – The White House plans to unveil new measures aimed at lowering housing prices, according to a report obtained by NBC News.
President Joe Biden will urge Congress to pass legislation that would ensure landlords receive a 5% rent increase or lose federal tax breaks.
According to the White House, if passed by Congress, the plan would apply to homeowners with more than 50 units, meaning more than 20 million units nationwide could be affected.
There will also be exceptions for new construction and certain renovations.
“The policy is a bridge to stabilize rents as President Biden’s plan to build more is implemented,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “The President believes that this combination of anti-housing policies and historic levels of support to build more affordable housing effectively balances the needs of renters without limiting incentives for more supply.”
Separately, the Biden administration intends to sell additional federal land for conversion to affordable housing, according to the White House.
The housing policy will be made public on Tuesday during Biden’s visit to Nevada, a key swing state in the 2024 election. Local officials in that state have identified more than 560 acres of public land that could be used for housing, which the White House estimates could be used to build up to 15,000 “affordable rental and home ownership units for Nevadans.”
The White House’s actions came amid the first night of the Republican National Convention, where former President Donald Trump is officially the GOP presidential nominee.
The economy and cost of living are among Biden’s main weaknesses in his re-election bid. NBC News conducted a survey in April found that voters preferred Biden to Trump on who would better deal with inflation and the cost of living.
At the same time, the survey showed that 23% of registered voters consider inflation and the living wage to be the most important problems facing the country.
In 2020, Biden narrowly won Nevada. Multiple requests Trump is currently slightly ahead of Biden in the state.
Overall, the 2024 race remains closely contested, and an NBC News poll in July showed Biden leading Trump by two margins. national score. The results of the July poll are similar to those before Biden’s widely criticized debate performance.