The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the social and economic costs that housing insecurity imposes on communities. People living in poor-quality, overcrowded, or unstable housing—or without any home at all—cannot follow public health directives to safely “shelter in place,” and are at higher risk of contracting contagious diseases.1 The immediate recovery period after the COVID-19 crisis could offer a unique opportunity to improve housing security by increasing the inventory of long-term affordable rental housing. If housing asset prices drop, affordable housing providers could purchase existing low-cost housing units and add them to the stock of long-term affordable rental housing.