The Legislature is looking at multiple approaches to the affordable housing shortage. Last week, the Senate also approved a proposed new tax credit to encourage developers to build more affordable housing units – an approach endorsed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in her State of the State address.
The bill adopted Wednesday would expand a decades-old state program designed to help low-income households with home purchases to cover middle-income families as well.
That challenge has gotten bigger since the program was launched in the 1960s, said Senator Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township).
“I think what we see in Michigan is that middle-income isn’t enough to buy what used to be considered a middle-class home,” she told Michigan Public Radio Network.
“In Michigan, the first time people on average can buy a home is when they’re about 40 years old,” she said. “Anecdotally, I would just say that when I was younger it seemed like people in their late 20s, early 30s were starting to buy homes and those homes now are so expensive that they’re not something that people can buy.”
Half a dozen Republican senators crossed over to join Democrats to adopt the bill.
Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) was one of the “no” votes. Lindsey said he wants to focus more on reducing regulations that add to the costs of development.
“The state cannot subsidize our way out of housing problems,” he said. “I think the focus should be passing legislation to knock down some of the barriers in developing more housing.”
The bill now goes to the GOP-controlled state House, which has a bill to extend the sunset on a tax-advantaged savings program for first-time homebuyers awaiting action by a committee.