$4B of stimulus funds to create rental housing

The Obama administration plans to use $4.25 billion in economic stimulus money for the creation of subsidized rental housing units in cities across the country. The money would pay for both the construction of new apartment buildings and the refurbishment of foreclosed homes. An additional $4 billion of the $14 billion that the Department of Housing and Urban Development received from the federal stimulus package will go toward repairing the nation’s current public housing stock. The program marks a drastic shift from former President George W. Bush’s “ownership society,” the idea that the ultimate goal for all Americans should be home ownership. But opponents of the Obama administration’s proposal warn that sometimes rent can be more expensive than a mortgage.