Finally, Good News

For Affordable Housing

By Erica Rascón on Apr 6, 2016 in News

After several years of reporting housing shortages and funding restrictions, there is a break in the clouds for affordable and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) housing.

The respite could not have come at a better time, other than sooner. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition recently released its 2016 report. The nation faces a shortage of 7.2 million affordable housing and available rental units. That means that there are only 31 affordable and available rental units for every 100 eligible households. Of those that can find housing, one in four spend more than 50 percent of their monthly income on rent.

Those figures only partially influence the increase in available funding for the sector. Borrowers are now seeing an increase as banks loosen their purse strings to honor Community Reinvestment Act requirements.

In 2015, Fannie Mae reported a total lending volume of $42.3 billion for affordable projects. Changes in product offerings are partially responsible for the increase in competitive loans.

One new product is the Reduced Occupancy Affordable Rehab (ROAR). ROAR allows Frannie Mae to extend financing for qualified affordable housing properties in need of renovations, eliminating the need for a construction loan.

Across the U.S., newfound funding is helping some companies expand their services. Affordable Housing News reports that the National Development Council Corporate Equity Fund (NDC CEF), for example, has raised $70 million for its fully specified Fund XII. The organization can now expand its products to include investment and low-income communities.

With the funding, NCD CEF launched 12 LIHTC projects. The projects will include affordable housing for families, the elderly, those with special needs, and residents who require consistent assistance.

The good news continues as Congress re-examines the cap on LIHTC. According to an article in Affordable Housing Finance, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and the A.C.T.I.O.N. Campaign have proposed a 50 percent expansion of the LIHTC program. The proposal would call for the creation and preservation of 400,000 affordable housing units over the next ten years.

Though the proposal may seem ambitious, Cantwell has had success with LIHTC reform in the past: in December 2015, Cantwell succeeded in permanently extending a nine percent credit rate on eligible costs of new construction. The new rate offers predictability and security for affordable housing financing.