Over the last few years, “affordable housing” has become a major political buzzword. But what does it actually mean?

Recently in the state of Virginia, it has largely meant being a renter at slightly below market rates.

Local governments talk a big game about making housing more affordable, but what they are often doing instead is reinforcing a system where people remain renters long term.

Take Arlington County for example. Since the end of 2023, more than 4,000 housing units have been built. Nearly all of them are apartments. Not condos where people can buy and build equity, but rental units where residents pay monthly to large ownership groups indefinitely and just a few companies reap all of the benefits.

Let’s look at a simple example.

If someone is 35 years old and plans to live to 80, what does renting versus buying a one bedroom actually look like over that time?

Rent: Assume $1,800 per month (well below the current average of around $2,400 in Arlington). Over 45 years, that comes out to $972,000 paid with nothing returned. That also assumes rent never increases, which is not realistic.

Buy: Assume a $250,000 purchase, 6% interest rate, 3% down, plus condo fee, taxes, insurance, and PMI. That comes out to about $2,238 per month. Over 30 years, you would pay roughly $800,000 total. After that, your housing cost drops significantly to just taxes, insurance, and condo fees.

Even using conservative numbers, the long term cost of renting can exceed the cost of owning, without any of the benefit of building equity.

And that is the bigger point.

One of the most overlooked benefits of ownership is what happens later in life. As people age and their ability to earn income declines, having a paid off home becomes one of the most powerful forms of financial stability. Rent tends to increase over time, while income typically does not. Remaining a renter into your 70s or 80s can become a serious financial burden.

Now consider where public money is going.

Local governments have funding set aside for “affordable housing,” but it is often directed toward large scale rental preservation instead of ownership opportunities. For example, at Barcroft Apartments in Arlington County, the county partnered with Amazon to provide over $300 million in below market financing to a developer so they could acquire and preserve a 1,300+ unit apartment complex.

As part of that deal, the property is now subject to an affordability covenant lasting up to 99 years, requiring the units to remain income restricted rentals for decades.

The goal is to keep rents lower for tenants, but it also means that a significant amount of capital was used to preserve apartments rather than create new housing or ownership opportunities.

If even a portion of that investment went toward building condos instead, it could create a path for thousands of people to build equity over time.

There would absolutely be tradeoffs. It is easier to lease a new 300 unit building than to sell 300 new individual units. More supply could put downward pressure on rent and sales prices. Builders might make less.

But that is exactly where local and state governments could step in to support ownership, rather than continuing to reinforce a rental heavy system.

There is an old saying: give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

The same principle applies here.