Trump preparing landmark new policy to spur up to 12 million new and affordable homes, adviser says

One of the most pressing issues facing Americans in the war against unaffordability is the lack of suitable, purchasable, affordable housing. President Donald Trump appears poised to ameliorate that crisis with a new policy that could spur 12 million new homes to be built, a top adviser says.”The President has the opportunity in front of him to create possibly the largest housing boom in US history. And I think he has the tools and the personality to accomplish [and] the plans to accomplish it,” Morris Davis, the recently departed Chief Housing Economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told Just The News. 
The United States is facing a persistent housing shortage, with estimates ranging from 3 to 5 million homes needed overall, and up to 7.1 million affordable rental units lacking for extremely low-income households as of late 2025. 
This supply deficit transpired after decades of underbuilding, has driven home prices to record highs and severely worsened affordability, leaving about one-third of households spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
High mortgage rates around 6 to 7% and elevated rents have frozen the market, pushing existing-home sales to their lowest levels in 30 years and delaying first-time buyers’ entry until a median age of 40. 
Morris, who now serves on the Board of Directors of construction technology company BOXABL, spoke to this specific issue and said, “There are some ideas that are being discussed that are both on the demand side and supply side. The demand side is that the Fed has to lower interest rates. Mortgage rates are too high. With the new Fed chairman, interest rates and mortgage rates will come down. That’s part of the equation.”
Despite some recent increases in inventory and slight cooling in price growth, experts warn the affordability crisis remains deep, with structural issues like zoning restrictions and construction constraints likely to prolong the shortage into the coming years. 
Davis also explained the inventory solution: “The other part of the equation that’s a necessity, is to create more houses. And we think that the President has the capacity with the right plan to create 12 million new houses over the next 10 years. What that will do is make housing attainable for young families.”
Trump has attributed high housing costs partly to immigration, stating that a “major factor” in driving up housing costs was the “colossal border invasion” during the Biden years, and claiming that his deportation policies are “freeing up inventory for Americans.” 
Pew Research cites that the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. is close to 14 million as of July 2023. If those individuals share homes with an average of three other people, that’s 3.5 million abodes being utilized by this population. 
Trump: “aggressive housing reform plans”
In Trump’s address to the nation on December 17, he pledged to announce “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history” next year to tackle the affordability crisis. Additionally, the Trump administration has floated plans like utilizing federal lands for affordable housing construction, cutting regulations to boost supply, and exploring mortgage relief options like lower interest rates through Federal Reserve influence.
Regulatory and permitting relief has been a hallmark of both of Trump’s non-consecutive terms. During Trump’s first term in office, he mandated that for every new regulation, the applicable entity or agency must remove two. Supercharging that policy for his second term, the rule is now that for every new regulation, ten must be eliminated. 
Furthermore, the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776, formerly known as the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act), which was passed by the House of Representatives on December 18, reforms the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to streamline federal permitting processes for infrastructure, energy, mining and other projects, which proponents, including Trump, argue will help increase housing supply by reducing regulatory delays and blockades.
Regulators add hurdles to home-buying
Morris also cited a jarring 2021 study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders that found that on average, regulations imposed by government at all levels account for $93,870 of the final price of a new single-family home built for sale. 
Morris explained, “Some of that’s permitting delays. Some of that’s impact fees, fees that builders are charged because if they need roads or sewers, or there’s some disruption. Some of that is taxes.” He warned that with the over $90,000 estimated in 2021 with inflation, it’s now over $100,000 in extra costs to build a single family home. “That’s why no one can afford a house.”
The last time the U.S. experienced a housing boom was following the passage and implementation of the “G.I. Bill,” officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which provided World War II veterans with benefits including education funding, unemployment compensation, and government-guaranteed low-interest home loans, often with no down payment required.
These VA-backed loans made homeownership accessible to millions of returning veterans who previously could not afford it, dramatically increasing demand for new housing in the postwar years. The surge in demand fueled a massive housing construction boom, particularly in suburban developments, fueling rapid suburbanization and the expansion of the American middle class during the 1940s and 1950s.

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