The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, is following the example of other large US tech companies and announcing a multi-billion dollar package of measures for affordable housing. Overall, the company promises to provide around $ 2 billion in funding for affordable housing in its key U.S. locations.

Funding in the form of loans According to the announcement by Amazon, the funds should be affordable in the form of loans and grants Preserve and promote housing in Puget Sound, near Seattle, and in the cities of Arlington and Nashville. Amazon names households with earnings between 30 and 80 percent as the target group for the measures of averaged income. The company has a strong presence in the three regions. The rental prices have recently increased significantly more than the incomes of the local population.

In the first step, Amazon 339 is awarding 9 million US dollars in Loans and 42 million US dollars in direct grants to the Washington Housing Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of housing families with low to middle incomes can also afford. In addition, 161, $ 5 million in loans and 24 million US Dollars in grants to the real estate developer “King County Housing Authority”, which operates in Washington State.

Image maintenance of the tech companies Similar initiatives have already been launched by other major US companies such as Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Microsoft. These commitments are not least a means of image cultivation – the corporations are often criticized for their relatively low tax levies and, with their high-paid employees, are considered to be one of the main causes of the housing crises in the vicinity of US tech strongholds such as Silicon Valley.

(ndi)