Homes Act: Analysis of Legislative Impact

The Homes Act, federal legislation authored by Senator Tina Smith (MN) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), would establish a housing development authority to finance, repair, and build millions of beautiful, affordable, community-controlled, and climate resilient housing units. This bill provides flexible options to fit the needs of communities—urban, suburban, rural, Tribal—across the country. 

The Climate and Community institute, Urban Democracy Lab at NYU, and Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative at UC Berkeley researched the impact of this legislation on housing unit creation and job creation. 

Our analysis shows that with an investment of $30 billion annually—the same cost as the Mortgage Interest Deduction that the government provides as a benefit to homeowners—and a revolving loan fund, the Homes Act would enable:

• Approximately 1,252,000 total new social housing units. 
• Approximately 875,000 units affordable to households at 0-50% Area Median Income, which is 70 percent of the Authority’s portfolio. Specifically, our estimates indicate that:
  • 500,000 units would be available at 0-30% Area Median Income 
  • 375,000 units would be available at 31-50% Area Median Income
• Generate up to 427,000 total jobs annually, including up to 161,000 direct well-paying union jobs in the building trades industries each year. 

For more information on the research that informed the Homes Act, refer here or email Climate and Community Institute Housing Policy Director, Ruthy Gourevitch, at rgourevitch@climateandcommunity.org.