U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester highlights bipartisan bills aimed at addressing the lack of affordable housing in Delaware

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U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., touted her work on new affordable housing legislation at a news conference Tuesday.

Congress passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in June to address nationwide housing shortages. It became law last month without President Donald Trump’s signature.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Delaware needs to make more than 14,000 more homes affordable for households living in poverty by expanding access to rental assistance and building deeply affordable rental homes. A recent report by the nonprofit found that the state is the 20th most expensive to find rental housing.

Blunt Rochester said she has heard from people up and down the state about their struggles to find a place to live.

“It connects the dots from the hospital CEO who said to me, ‘We’re building down here in Sussex County, but people can’t afford to live near the facility,’” she said. “It connects the senior citizen who said to me, ‘I just want to age gracefully in my home.’ That young couple who said ‘We want a starter home.’”

Wilmington resident Miketia Edmond said homeownership has been one of the most rewarding and empowering experiences of her life. But she says she struggled to afford one until she found help through New Castle County’s Habitat for Humanity, which helps lower-income residents become homeowners.

“Some mornings, I still stand up in my kitchen and just feeling deeply grateful,” she said. “I’ll take a deep breath on my couch, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is mine.’”

Blunt Rochester said the package of bills aim to create more safe and affordable housing by cutting red tape and modernizing outdated laws.

One of the initiatives directs the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop zoning and land use policy frameworks for states and localities. Others include reducing regulatory burdens on banks and credit unions to allow more investment of affordable housing and help communities fund emergency shelter beds.

Delaware State Housing Authority Director Matthew Heckles said the act was the largest, the most impactful federal legislation on housing in 30 years. But it must be given the needed federal funding so it can be implemented.

“[Housing and Urban Development] is not currently staffed at the capacity level where it needs to be and so I’m concerned that as we go to implement the authorities that you have given us in this legislation, that the regulation process at a HUD, the funding has to follow,” he said. “So we celebrate today, but also have to dedicate ourselves to making sure that the things that are authorized in this bill come to fruition.”

Blunt Rochester said some of the initiatives do need federal funding. But others, like rule changes, don’t need money to be accomplished.