MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The cost of living is a big issue for voters, and the cost of housing is a big part of that.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
And both presidential candidates have plans to address that high cost of housing, but there are few details and lots of questions.
MARTIN: NPR's Jennifer Ludden is here to help us sort through them. Good morning.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Hello.
MARTIN: So let's start with Vice President Kamala Harris. She's put out an ad on her housing ideas and has been talking about this. What's her plan?
LUDDEN: Well, the biggest part of it is to boost our supply of housing, and that really is the core problem. I mean, this country has a severe shortage of especially affordable housing that has pushed up prices. Harris says she would build 3 million new housing units in four years. OK. Theoretically, not impossible, but certainly ambitious. The first reality check here is to pay for it. Congress would need to approve that. And even if it did, there's another big challenge to building lots of housing - it's restrictive zoning. Jung Choi - with the nonpartisan Urban Institute - says those rules are controlled by states and cities, not the federal government.
JUNG CHOI: So unless they kind of cut down more restrictive land use and zoning regulations, then it would probably be more difficult to attain that 3 million goal.
LUDDEN: On top of that, Choi says you need enough workers and materials on hand to, you know, really ramp up construction that much that fast.
MARTIN: OK. So 3 million new apartments and homes - doable but not easy. But what else is Harris proposing?
LUDDEN: Two ideas. They get mixed reviews from housing experts. She wants to give $25,000 to help first-time home buyers. Now, Choi thinks helping more people own is good. But she says it's econ 101. If you boost demand by giving people more money when there's such limited housing supply, it could just drive up prices. Also, Harris wants to reign in tax breaks for big investors who buy up single-family homes and rent them out. They can price out people who want to buy. But Choi says those companies are a small slice of the market.
MARTIN: All right. Let's turn to former President Trump. Of course, he has a record from his first term in office or his only term in office so far. What do we know about his plans if he were to win another term?
LUDDEN: We don't have that many details in what Trump is thinking about housing, even though, of course, he started out as a real estate developer. But for years, and again in this campaign, he has spoken out strongly against low-income housing. He says it brings down property values. He calls it an attack on the suburbs. Shamus Roller at the National Housing Law Project supports tenants' rights. He says when Trump was in office, he also was no fan of public housing programs.
SHAMUS ROLLER: There were significant cuts to the federal housing programs proposed under Trump, and I would expect to see similar cuts proposed. It really depends on what Congress looks like, as well.
LUDDEN: Beyond that, Trump says that deporting immigrants would free up more housing. Now, housing experts aren't sure how big a dent that would make, but they do say it could hurt new construction, which depends on immigrant labor. Trump also wants to build more housing on federal land, which the Biden-Harris administration has also supported. And he basically says he'd make it cheaper to buy a house because he'd bring down interest rates. But, of course, Michel, that power lies with the Federal Reserve and not the president.
MARTIN: Complicated. A long-term project, to be sure. That is NPR's Jennifer Ludden. Jennifer, thank you.
LUDDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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