The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose less than expected in November, but we can’t conquer this past year’s record-high inflation until we address housing costs. While housing costs normally comprise about a third of the CPI, they’ve accounted for nearly half the inflation increase over the last 12 months.

The substantial increases in rents and home prices, which displayed historic double-digit growth over the past two years, are rooted in an acute shortage of affordable housing, especially for low- and middle-income families. In essence, there are far too few affordable apartments and entry-level homes for sale for families that need them.

This mismatch between housing supply and demand has led to higher rents and home sale prices in communities of all types across the country. Unfortunately, household incomes have not kept pace with these rising costs.

What created the housing shortage? For starters, the residential construction industry lost many of its skilled workers as a result of the financial crisis of 2008. More recently, supply-chain problems tied to COVID-19 have driven up the costs of such key housing components as lumber, steel, and copper. Meanwhile, local zoning laws continue to restrict the type, volume, and density of housing allowed in many communities.

We won’t solve the housing shortage overnight; it will take time to build the millions of homes needed to meet demand. But we can make serious progress, and the public is insisting on action. In a recent Morning Consult poll, a strong majority of Americans said that enacting bipartisan legislation to boost housing supply and make homes more affordable should be a top priority for Congress.

The good news is that lawmakers are not at a loss for solutions. Congress can make a significant dent in the housing shortage by strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and enacting the proposed new Neighborhood Homes Investment Act.

Together, these two steps—which are reflected in pending legislative proposals that have attracted bipartisan support in the House and Senate—could help create more than 2.5 million affordable homes over the next decade.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit was created by the 1986 Tax Reform Act and is now the nation’s largest and most effective program in creating affordable rental housing. It has helped build and rehabilitate some 3.6 million affordable rental homes since its creation.

The program gives tax credits to private developers to help offset the costs of constructing rental housing, and the developers agree to reserve a significant number of rent-restricted units for low-income households. Through this public-private partnership, the LIHTC not only increases the supply of affordable housing, but also creates jobs, strengthens local economies, and helps to revitalize impoverished communities.

A bipartisan congressional proposal to strengthen the LIHTC would spur the construction and rehabilitation of 2 million affordable rental homes over the next decade. Swift action to strengthen the LIHTC is particularly urgent because a previous increase in the amount of credits has now expired for 2022.

In addition, lawmakers should enact the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which also enjoys strong bipartisan support. The act, modeled on the LIHTC, would create a new tax credit to address a shortage of private investment in building and rehabilitating affordable, entry-level homes in distressed areas.

For investors, the new tax credit would help close the gap between what it costs to build and renovate such homes and the price that low- and middle-income households can afford to pay for them. That would help spur the construction and rehabilitation of 500,000 affordable homes for sale over the next decade.

In the coming weeks, the nation’s leaders have an opportunity to make housing more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income families while helping to tamp down inflation. They shouldn’t miss the chance.

Dennis C. Shea is executive director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.