Housing Affordability Too Big an Issue to Ignore
Only one candidate for Governor offers real solutions
There are plenty of issues that people are agitated about with regard to the upcoming gubernatorial election in Maryland. On the Right the victory of Dan Cox proved many Republicans are up in arms over issues like critical race theory, actions related to the Covid pandemic, and loyalty to Donald Trump; on the Left defense of democracy and the danger of Trump remain strong themes (even as the DGA spent millions to boost Cox’s campaign in the primary) along with issues like racial disparities in the state, boosting the minimum wage, and abortion rights.
There is one issue, however, that neither side seems to be giving anywhere near as much attention as it deserves. That issue is housing affordability and opportunity.
Maryland is in serious trouble when it comes to issues of housing. Maryland has the 11th largest housing deficit in the country. Unsurprisingly, the fact that we have built tens of thousands fewer homes than needed for our population growth has helped drive the skyrocketing increase in prices in recent years - 38.6% over the last 5 years even as the number of homes for sale dropped by 59% from 2019 to 2021.
This has Marylanders seriously worried. Based on survey data from Maryland Realtors:
57% of respondents thought the cost to buy a home was too high and 61% felt the cost to rent an apartment was too high
20% of households are either worried or very worried about missing a rent or mortgage payment in the next 3 months
2/3 of respondents feel there is too little housing available for people with low incomes and 62% feel there is too little housing for young people and those just getting started in their careers
And worth noting, that all of this data is before the recent spiking in interest rates which will simultaneously drive up costs to own a home for buyers and put even greater pressure on the rental market as people become unable to get approvals and turn to renting instead.
A state where housing, whether bought or rented, is out of reach for many and a severe burden for many of those who can afford it is one with other serious problems. It stifles family and household formation as people delay those actions without a place to call their own. It drives out many of the young people our state needs for the future, especially the most ambitious and driven, as they seek out work and housing opportunities in more economically feasible locales. These are serious problems right this moment and they are problems that will grow massively worse with time.
I hardly think it is hyperbole to say that this is a crisis for Maryland. Perhaps the crisis. There’s been some good work at the state level on this, by legislators on both sides of the aisle. But it’s something that truly needs leadership from the governor’s mansion too. So with this threat looming over the state, where do the gubernatorial candidates stand on it?
I couldn’t find a website for David Harding, the Working Class Party candidate.
Dan Cox, the Republican nominee, has no mention of housing affordability/opportunity on his website nor can I find any statements anywhere about it.
Nancy Wallace, the Green Party candidate has a site and reasonably thorough issues page. She doesn’t have a page specifically about housing affordability, but I did find a reference to the issue under the heading of Social Justice and Community-Based Economics. Unfortunately, her ideas, making all state-based affordable housing programs rent-to-own and changing mortgage amortization so equity increases evenly across the life of the loan, don’t really get at the heart of the issue, which is that we don’t have enough homes relative to the number of people who want them and it ranges from hard to impossible to build them.
Wes Moore, the Democratic candidate presents very similarly to Nancy Wallace. He doesn’t have a dedicated page for housing affordability but the issue does appear as part of his treatment of other issues. Sadly, like Wallace, his proposals often miss the mark.
While he does have some decent ideas, like better education on the home buying process and a first-generation down payment assistance program, unfortunately, he also is endorsing some ideas that range from not very helpful, like expanding the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust which is focused almost exclusively on creating government based affordable housing units, to the outright harmful, like Tenant Protection Act which features elements like making it easier for tenants to break leases - in a time where we have nowhere near enough rental units actions that discourage people from becoming or remaining landlords are the last thing we ought to be considering.
So four candidates and solutions ranging from non-existent to mildly helpful to outright detrimental. No one focused on the actual issues driving Maryland’s housing shortfall. Is there any hope for the state?
Luckily there is one candidate who has a serious take on the question of housing affordability and that is the Duckpin endorsed David Lashar, the Libertarian nominee.
Unlike all the other candidates, Lashar has an actual section devoted to the topic. Also unlike the others, Lashar recognizes that the fundamental role in solving this issue is not with government housing programs but through the private sector. His proposals include:
A general strategy of encouraging private investment into housing rather than more spending on inefficient government programs
Strengthening opportunity zones created by the federal government in 2017. The program brings together investors, developers, businesses, and community representatives to drive redevelopment in distressed communities through the use of tax incentives rather than direct subsidies
Relaxing zoning restrictions. It’s controversial and there are legislators in both parties who fight it tooth and nail (to say nothing of the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Municipal League) but the fact is that local zoning laws are a disaster and the single biggest barrier to the construction of affordable, market-based housing both in Maryland and nationally. Lashar calls for encouraging local governments to change their ordinances to allow for more creation of multi-family housing, for allowing the building of smaller homes on smaller lots, and for general allowance of Accessory Dwelling Units such as basement apartments.
Embracing innovation rather than continuing to cling to the same failed government programs that have proven their ineffectiveness over the last few decades.
Housing affordability is a complicated issue and it doesn’t have quick solutions. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a misguided fool or they are lying to you. But it is a surmountable problem, it just requires taking a serious look at the problem, being ready to consider solutions outside the handful of programs that we’ve tried for years, and a willingness to sacrifice sacred cows like total local control of zoning laws in the interests of promoting freedom and property rights.
Lashar is striking a bold position in doing so and deserves credit for it, along with the other positives noted in The Duckpin’s endorsement. I hope the other candidates will follow his lead but I don’t have much expectation that any of them will.