The flood of many evictions housing advocates expected after the the moratorium on evictions was lifted in court last summer did not materialize. Officials point to multiple efforts to help millions of people stay at home, including $ 46 billion in rent relief through state and local governments, which has cost more than $ 4.7 million to help. people to avoid evictions during the pandemic.

But most of that money will be used by the middle of this year, Treasury Department officials say. Despite a slow start last year, officials announced Wednesday that approximately $ 30 billion in emergency rental assistance was spent or forced by the end of February.

President Biden has noted that affordable housing was a top priority with his 2023 budget proposal tabled earlier this week, but money for measures to increase affordable housing is in the hands of Congress.

According to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, eviction requests remain well below normal pre-pandemic levels. His researchers suggested that this could be in part due to emergency rental assistance. Treasury Department data showed more than 80% of the rental aid it was delivered to very low-income households last year and many of these recipients were people of color and women.

When Emergency Rental Assistance money was included as part of the COVID relief measures approved by Congress in late 2020 and early 2021, the United States had no national infrastructure to help people with rent to avoid being evicted. Federal, state and local officials across the country had to fight to get the programs up and running.

“It has helped keep eviction rates well below historical averages throughout the pandemic,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.

As money runs out, officials are pushing for state and local governments to use other federal funds to help troubled tenants and to bolster other housing efforts. The U.S. bailout plan included $ 350 billion in cash for state and local governments that could be earmarked for that effort, officials said.

By the end of 2021, some $ 11 billion in funds have already been pledged for housing efforts, from rent and mortgage assistance and eviction prevention efforts to affordable housing.

“We hope this will support both the enduring eviction prevention infrastructure and provide a springboard for much-needed investment in the supply of affordable housing,” said Jacob Leibenluft, director of Treasury Recovery.

Leibenluft noted that using the money to increase the amount of affordable housing has been a major area of ​​interest for state, local and tribal governments across the country, from cities to rural communities. By the end of last year, more than 350 governments had allocated state and local recovery money to housing, a figure that is expected to grow this year.

This is because the cost of rent is rising nationwide. According to a Redfin report, the average monthly rent demanded by landlords in January rose by a record 15.2% from a year ago. The national average monthly mortgage payment for home buyers rose 25%, the largest increase in Redfin records.

In:
• Biden Administration
• rentals
• pandemic