HAC was deeply honored by an invitation to testify at the first hearing held in the new 118^th Congress by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Titled The State of Housing 2023, the session featured Lance George, HAC’s Director of Research and Information, as one of  three witnesses.

A wide range of topics was covered by the witnesses’ testimony and the Senators’ questions. Among the key areas of concern were the gap between housing supply and need, the high cost of both homeownership and rental housing, and what congressional actions could address these challenges. Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) asked specifically about the loss of rentals financed by USDA’s Section 515 program, a serious concern addressed by HAC research in 2016 and 2022.

Key Takeaways

Lance’s statement made five key points about the state of rural housing in 2023:

• The pandemic left its mark on rural America and housing markets remain uncertain.
• Rural mortgage markets are being impacted by interest rates and prices too.
• Affordability is the greatest housing challenge in rural America, by far.
• Manufactured housing is an often overlooked but important source of housing – especially in rural America.
• Race matters across the rural spectrum – especially in housing.

Key policy recommendations, based on HAC’s full set of policy priorities for 2023, included:

• Increase rural communities’ access to credit and capital and strengthen USDA and HUD homeownership supports.
• Improve opportunities and financing for preserving aging rental properties and protecting tenants.
• Authorize the powerful Rural Community Development Initiative and a significant cross-sectoral, flexible capacity building rural investment initiative.