Written by: Internal Analysis & Opinion Writers
The administration may declare a national housing emergency as early as this fall, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. While no official framework has been released, potential executive actions under consideration include standardizing local building and zoning codes, lowering closing costs, and granting tariff waivers on construction materials.
Shortly after Bessent’s remarks, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, and Cory Booker sent a pointed letter to FHFA Director Bill Pulte. They criticized Pulte for being sidetracked by issues unrelated to housing policy and urged him to prioritize solutions aimed at improving housing affordability and accessibility.
The senators floated several targeted policy proposals to boost housing finance inclusivity. Key suggestions include directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prioritize lending to nonprofit and local government-driven affordable housing models such as community land trusts, public housing, and other subsidized projects that preserve long-term affordability.
They also urged the GSEs to extend liquidity and financing support to multifamily construction and renovation projects—especially mixed-income developments—and to back cost-saving methods like modular construction and adaptive reuse conversions.
Recent FHFA actions provide context. Freddie Mac expanded its CHOICEHome program to include single-section factory-built homes aimed at lower-income buyers. The FHFA itself doubled annual investment caps for Fannie and Freddie in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects—from \$1 billion to \$2 billion per entity.
However, the senators took issue with some of Pulte’s early moves in office. They denounced the termination of Special Purpose Credit Programs designed to promote access for underserved households, as well as the proposed repeal of the Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans rule—both of which were part of Biden-era policy efforts.
To counter these rollbacks, the lawmakers urged the reinstatement of equity-focused initiatives from Fannie and Freddie’s 2025–2027 Equitable Housing Finance Plans, particularly those that assist first-time buyers and households with limited wealth overcome downpayment and closing-cost barriers.
The letter also referenced a January executive order instructing agencies to deliver emergency price relief that includes lowering housing costs and expanding supply. The senators asked Pulte to act on that mandate by taking meaningful steps to “deliver emergency price relief” and restore homeownership access.
Should the president invoke the National Emergencies Act to declare a housing emergency, administrative powers could expand dramatically—allowing swift actions that might bypass traditional legislative and local planning hurdles.
