In the 1980s, U.S. budget-devisers saved money by reducing, among other things, subsidies for low-income housing. Predictably, the savings were temporary, and the country now faces an increasing number of homeless people and fewer homes to put them in.

The National Affordable Housing Act, passed last month by the Senate, is designed to address some of the needs of the homeless by building new homes for low-income people, rehabilitating substandard homes and developing opportunities for tenants to purchase their apartments and housing complexes. The $17.6 billion bill, up $3.1 billion over last year, redresses some of the regressive cuts made beginning in the early 1980s and should be passed by the House and signed by President Bush.

Funds for HUD-supported housing declined by 80 percent in the 1980s, adding thousands of families to waiting lists for a decreasing number of apartments. According to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, “During the last decade we repeatedly heard that the nation’s housing problem was one of affordability, not availability. That’s incorrect. It’s both.”

With gaining access to an affordable apartment increasingly difficult for many poor people, the idea of home ownership has become remote. In 1989, for the 14th straight year, home prices rose faster than the incomes of home buyers, according to the Chicago Title & Trust Co., the country’s largest title insurance company. Further, the study reported, a large majority of home buyers were two-income couples who saved for an average of 2.9 years — the longest time in the 14-year history of the survey — to have enough money for a down payment.

Simply making homes available for an estimated 1 million Americans without adequate shelter won’t cure the nation’s problem of homelessness. Drug abuse, mental illness and a host of other problems will continue to put people on the streets. But for those hoping to afford a decent and safe place to live and raise a family, the bill offers hope and a chance for a better life.