Amazon pledges $ 2 billion for affordable housing in three hub cities

Amazon says it will provide more than $ 2 billion to build and preserve 20,000 affordable homes in three of its main areas of employment: the Seattle area, Nashville, Tennessee and Arlington, Virginia. The Housing Equity Fund will provide below-market capital in the form of low-cost loans, lines of credit and grants to help families earning between 30 and 80 percent of the median income in each region. The fund will also provide $ 125 million in grants to government agencies and minority-led organizations to promote inclusive affordable housing solutions.

Large tech companies can increase the cost of living in areas surrounding their offices. Amazon is following the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google to focus on these issues. All three have pledged at least $ 1 billion to tackle California’s affordable housing problem. Microsoft has also committed $ 750 million to ease the housing crisis in the Seattle area.