Among the many issues facing our nation, the availability of affordable housing, or lack thereof, is a problem that lawmakers have been trying to address for decades. Federal programs that either support the development of affordable housing or provide assistance to renters through vouchers have been woefully underfunded, and state and local elected officials are looking for solutions. Unfortunately, some have turned to rent control as an answer. But the reality is that rent control will not only fail to solve our affordable housing crisis, it will actually make it worse.
Government & Public Policy
From zoning disputes to the federal tax code, public policy affects the commercial real estate sector far more than you may realize. For industry leaders, government and politics demand constant attention.
Sax White Paper: Qualified Opportunity Zone Investments – A Summary of the Updated Regulations
It’s been very well publicized that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted a new opportunity to incentivize real estate investment and development in low-income communities across the country. In October of 2018, the IRS published proposed regulations on this program that provided direction to taxpayers, although many questions were left unanswered. In April of 2019, the IRS sought to address many of those questions by publishing a second set of proposed regulations which provided needed clarity on conducting an operating business within a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QO Zone) and structuring a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QO Fund).
