Corporate Pledges for Affordable Housing

Apple is the latest corporate giant to announce a pledge of monetary support to address California’s housing affordability crisis. Joining Facebook and Genentech in large financial contributions to support affordable housing, Apple announced a $2.5 billion fund that includes an allocation specifically for homebuyer assistance.

Attention to housing affordability is acute in California and communities nationwide as the cost of housing for both renters and buyers escalates beyond wage increases. The trend has displaced low-income populations and student-debt laden millennials from access to the wealth-building opportunity of homeownership and a cornerstone of the American Dream.

To rebalance individual opportunity and the sustainability of our collective economy, we advocate for legislation that expands access to homeownership. Homeownership works for individuals and families because it enables them to store value that would otherwise be expended on rent and to leverage that value for future investments, like sending their children to college without a debt burden. It works for communities because homeowners create a less transient, more sustainable tax base and are deeply vested in their neighborhoods and the quality of their housing stock.

Policies that support homeownership create real opportunity for individuals and can make the investment of resources earmarked for distressed communities more impactful. Let’s put homeownership back within reach.