Rental Housing Industry's Priorities to Ensure Greater Housing Options

2 minute read

Elevated demand and increased costs - for everything from insurance to taxes, to labor and materials - continue to place upward pressure on rents and strain the wallets of housing providers and our residents alike. To help address affordability challenges for renters in the short term, and housing supply needs in the long term, the rental housing industry remains committed to responsible and sustainable policy responses to these challenges. The industry urges policymakers to resist politically expedient but flawed policies that undermine the creation of necessary housing and instead focus on solutions that balance the needs of renters and housing providers and increase access to quality, affordable housing.

2024 Legislative Priorities

  • Maintain and expand tax policy that preserves and encourages investment in multifamily housing of all types and at all prices points to help address the housing affordability challenges we face.

  • Promote strategies that reduce the barriers to new construction and rehabilitation to address housing supply shortages by leveraging federal resources to incentivize better housing policy decision making and planning at the state and local level.

  • Provide much-needed, increased investments in vouchers and program administration of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program while making critical reforms that would enable greater housing provider participation and expand affordable housing options for low- and moderate-income Americans.

  • Enact the Respect State Housing Laws Act that eliminates the temporary, CARES Act eviction notice requirement and return authority back to the states.

  • Enact a federal data privacy, security and breach notification standard that pre-empts the patchwork of state laws that leave consumers vulnerable and impose burdensome compliance obligations.

  • Advance labor and immigration policy that ensures an adequate workforce supply for rental housing providers - from construction to maintenance and other property operations.

2024 Regulatory Priorities

  • Ensure federal fair housing policy protects equal opportunity in housing while supporting housing providers’ ability to develop, own and operate their properties without undue risk and compliance uncertainty.
  • Accelerate broadband deployment and modernization in multifamily communities across the country, while protecting the current partnership model between broadband providers and property owners that encourages digital infrastructure expansion and improves affordability and accessibility for residents.
  • Preserve necessary resident screening tools and promote advancements in tested and appropriate technology such as AI and property management practices that ensure apartment providers can properly manage risk and public safety, while supporting Resident-facing priorities like consumer credit-building.
  • Support incentives for innovative, cost effective environmental performance and energy efficiency strategies, while ensuring policies do not hinder apartment constructability, operations and affordability.