Congress must prioritize accessibility in housing supply

Allie Cannington

Submitted photo/InsideSources.com

David Gonzalez Rice

Submitted photo/InsideSources.com

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What disabled people, older adults and families know intimately is that finding a home that is affordable and accessible is a near-impossible task. While LIHTC is the nation’s primary driver of affordable housing, it has no federal in-unit requirements for mobility or sensory accessibility. This policy gap forces many individuals into housing insecurity, institutions or onto the streets.”

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OPINION — The United States has witnessed a historic level of legislative commitment to address the national housing crisis.

In July 2025, Congress expanded the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to fund an estimated 1.22 million affordable rental homes over the next decade.

In July this year, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was passed, a broad bipartisan package designed to address everything from rural housing to disaster recovery while encouraging investments in LIHTC credits. Together, these reforms show significant momentum toward bettering our nation’s housing supply.  

Yet, for 28% of Americans living with a disability, these wins ring hollow. Neither of these legislative milestones mandates an increase in the supply of accessible housing. Without a change of course, we will effectively build a generation of affordable housing that remains physically off-limits to millions of seniors and people with disabilities. 

What disabled people, older adults and families know intimately is that finding a home that is affordable and accessible is a near-impossible task. While LIHTC is the nation’s primary driver of affordable housing, it has no federal in-unit requirements for mobility or sensory accessibility. This policy gap forces many individuals into housing insecurity, institutions or onto the streets.    

Recent data from the 2025 National Renter Survey highlights the severity of this accessibility crisis. About 10.2 million adult renters in the United States live in households that require accessibility features to live safely. Most of these needs go unmet: 65% of renters who need mobility features, and 77.1% of those who need sensory features, do not have them. More than half of renters with accessibility needs report that it is difficult to find a rental home that possesses the features they require.  

The market is failing to provide basic access: less than 6% of the national housing supply is designed with even rudimentary accessibility, and for wheelchair users, that figure drops to less than 1%.  

A legislative solution ready to bridge this gap: Visitable Inclusive Tax Credits for Accessible Living Act. The bipartisan act would modernize LIHTC to ensure that federal investments finally prioritize accessibility.

The bill would require at least 40% of LIHTC units in each state be adaptable and accessible according to the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards. It also provides a 150% “basis boost” for projects built in walkable and rollable neighborhoods, ensuring that residents aren’t just housed but integrated into their communities with access to transit and services. If these incentives are fully utilized, the United States could see an additional 516,000 accessible or adaptable homes constructed over the next 10 years.  

Building for accessibility from the start is fiscally responsible. It reduces the need for expensive retrofits and allows our rapidly aging population — one in four Americans by 2060 — to age in place with dignity.   

Affordable housing leaders and housing-supply advocates have a choice. We can continue to build housing that excludes one-quarter of the population, or we can embed the language of the VITAL Act into any future LIHTC legislation. 

Congress has shown it can act with bipartisan resolve to increase housing supply. It is time to pass accessibility provisions within any housing expansion and reform, including LIHTC, and ensure that disabled people, seniors and their families finally have the homes they so desperately need.

Allie Cannington is managing director of advocacy and David Gonzalez Rice is senior vice president of public policy for the National Low Income Housing Coalition. They wrote this for InsideSources.com. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.