The Growing Movement For Socialized Housing Could Win A Big Victory In D.C. As the affordable housing crisis in the United States stretches even the most forward-thinking local governments to their limits, the nation’s capital appears poised to embark on the biggest test of publicly developed housing in decades. In Washington, D.C., a proposed "Green New Deal for Housing" would create an Office of Socialized Housing Development, a new District agency charged with developing mixed-income housing developments where market-rate renters subsidize extremely low-income renters. The bill, which got its first hearing in November, will be reintroduced in the new legislative session of 2023, a spokesperson for the bill’s lead sponsor, Council Member Janeese Lewis George, told Bisnow. The proposal already has the backing of a majority of the council, and proponents are hopeful it could be passed in time to receive funds in next year’s budget cycle. 
The desire to build locally financed and owned public housing is borne out of the difficult economic headwinds facing renters today — median rents rose 7.45% nationally and nearly 3% in D.C. over the past year after double-digit rent growth the previous year, according to Rent.com data. With…  Read the full story here. | 
