Dive Brief:

• A proposed $6 billion budget cut at the Department of Housing and Urban Development could further exacerbate the current housing squeeze, according to Trulia.

• The real estate website said the budget reduction is set to impact affordable housing programs and public services that would amplify the current low- and middle-income housing shortage and slow overall economic growth by making housing harder to attain for some working class households.

• Through the cuts, 8 million Americans in urban and suburban communities could lose their access to public housing and nearly 4 million people could lose their rental subsidy. Trulia said the funds could be used to bolster new construction and reduce regulatory delays that currently hold up affordable and market-rate projects.

Dive Insight:

The Trump administration’s proposal to slash HUD’s funding as part of broader budget cuts has drawn fire from many quarters of the housing industry amid fears it will predominately impact low-income families who are already struggling to find affordable housing.

Following a flurry of criticism, new HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in an email to HUD employees last week that the cuts being considered are not finalized and a review is still ongoing.

In January, outgoing HUD Secretary Julián Castro said in his cabinet exit memo that the department could do more to tackle the affordable housing shortage, adding that the supply of affordable housing in the U.S. is extremely limited — with 65 affordable units per 100 very low-income renters — and often only in unsafe areas.

The Trump administration also caught flak from the housing industry earlier this year after it suspended a recent 25-basis-point decrease in the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance premium, a move that could prevent up to 40,000 homebuyers from entering the market this year.

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