On Thursday, the
Trump administration announced the rollback of a Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation, enacted by the Obama administration, that pressured suburbs to permit the construction of low-income housing. Trump previewed his decision on the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule last month, when he
tweeted: “At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devasting impact on these once thriving Suburban areas . . . Not fair to homeowners. I may END!”
It’s the latest chapter in a policy fight that has racialized a sound and bipartisan idea: encouraging suburbs to permit the construction of less costly housing for a range of income groups, not through public or subsidized projects, but through the private market. Trump’s proposal could be a step in that direction, but only if he prevails in the November election.
A Joe Biden victory would likely mean that the suburbs see a restoration of the Obama-era rule.