A Bipartisan Victory for Affordable Housing

March 28, 2018              By: Bob Moss & David Gasson

Bob Moss and David Gasson write that the LIHTC is a priority for both parties

The affordable housing industry is celebrating a significant victory in our never-ending pursuit of additional resources to address the nation’s growing affordable housing crisis. With the passage of the fiscal year 2018 omnibus budget, Congress has restored some of the resources to the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) that had been diminished with the passage of the Jobs and Tax Cuts Act of 2017 in December.

Inclusion of a 50% cap increase to the 9% LIHTC over four years (2018-2021) and the permanent initiation of the income-averaging provision will provide much-needed financial and housing resources to communities across the country. In addition, appropriators recognized the damage inflicted on the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget, and thus those Americans that rely on HUD’s assistance, by repeatedly reducing resources to much-needed programs as recently noted in reports by both the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Acting on this information, as well as countless meetings with housing advocates, the appropriators increased the fiscal 2018 HUD budget by 10% over fiscal 2017 numbers. Credit for this abounds but special mention must go to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Appropriations THUD (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies) subcommittee, for her steadfast support for affordable housing. More on the ongoing budget battle at a later date...........................Read More

9 challenges affordable housing needs to overcome

March 24, 2018                     By: Aliens Group

Affordable housing has become a popular term in India for more than a decade now with several governments trying to provide for the shortage of houses for the mid and low income people. Are governments really successful in reducing this gap of demand and supply for affordable homes in the country? Has affordable housing been able to meet its goals and deliver to as per expectations?

The recently launched FICCI- CBRE whitepaper on 'Affordable Housing – The Next Big Thing?' highlights that "the segment hasn't really gained the required momentum to address this gap. A major reason has been the lack of private participation in the segment."

Under the Modi government, the past few years have seen maximum activity on Indian real estate scene, such as the launch of Mission Housing For All by 2022, imparting infrastructure status, implementation of RERA, revision of REIT guidelines, PPP policy, and a dedicated fund for affordable housing as a budget provision.

Speaking at the Conference on 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Housing for All by 2022', organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in Delhi, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri said that PMAY is not just successful but is roaring and hence brings the opportunity for the private players to be the part of the scheme......................Read More

The LIHTC Continues to Serve Those Most in Need of Affordable Housing

March 26, 2018                    By: Peter Lawrence

The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), continues to serve the nation’s most vulnerable households, according to “Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves: Data on Tenants in LIHTC Units as of December 31, 2015,” a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) report released March 20, 2018. The report provides insight into households in LIHTC rental homes including information about race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rental payments.

There are several caveats to consider about HUD’s data. First, not all data reported by housing finance agencies (HFA) are collected in a manner consistent with HUD’s demographic data collection standards. Second, what’s reported does not capture all LIHTC households because some HFAs did not submit 2015 data. In addition, the information is requested at the household level or for individual household members, but reporting is not consistent. Still, the data submitted is significantly large enough to be a representative sample and provides useful information about the economic and demographic profiles of households residing in LIHTC properties...................Read More

Affordable Apartments Lost

By: Multifamily Executive           Sponsored by PNC Bank

Every year, thousands of apartments are demolished - often by owners who can no longer pay to make the repairs needed to keep the apartments habitable.

Every year, thousands of apartments are demolished, often by owners who can no longer afford the repairs needed to maintain them.

These units are often among the most affordable homes in their respective markets, with the people living in them frequently having few other housing choices. The elimination of these apartments from the housing stock only exacerbates the already critical nationwide shortage of low-income housing. However, new financing tools are helping recapitalize these units, repair their problems, and keep them affordable.

“We’re not going to be able to build our way out of the affordable housing crisis … something needs to be done to preserve the existing stock, as well,” says Caitlin Sugrue Walter, senior director of research for the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC).................Read More

Housing as a hub for health, community services, and upward mobility

March 15, 2018                       By: Stuart Butler & Marcela Cabello

There is a growing recognition that, for people and neighborhoods to be healthy and successful, different sectors must work together and that investments in one sector can bring dividends in others. Housing, for example, is increasingly understood to be an important determinant of success in life, affecting health, access to education, and the opportunity for upward mobility.

The condition and location of a family’s home can affect such things as respiratory health and “toxic stress” among children, which can have lasting effects on individuals throughout their lives. The availability of good social services, positive social networks, and job opportunities can determine whether a family achieves the American Dream or not.

In “Housing as a hub for health, community services, and upward mobility” (PDF), Stuart Butler and Marcela Cabello explore the ways in which housing can affect the lives and success of individuals, and how the effect varies for different segments of the population. But, the authors find that in many instances there are a number of policy and other issues obstructing the capacity of housing to serve this vital purpose........................Read More

The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes

No State Has an Adequate Supply of Affordable Rental Housing for the Lowest Income Renters

Widespread Shortage of Affordable Housing

The U.S. has a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income renters, whose income is at or below the poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income. Only 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low income renter households. Extremely low income households face a shortage in every state and major metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia. Among states, the supply of affordable and available rental homes ranges from only 15 for every 100 extremely low income renter households in Nevada to 59 for every 100 extremely low income renter households in Maine. For the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S, the supply ranges from 10 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low income renter households in Las Vegas, NV to 47 in Providence, RI.................................Read More

For Low-Income Renters, the Affordable Housing Gap Persists (citylab.com)

March 14, 2018                               By: Alicia Doktor

Finding affordable housing isn’t getting any easier for the more than a quarter of U.S. renters that are extremely low-income. For six years, the National Low Income Housing Coalition has released an annual report calculating the discrepancy between available affordable housing units and renters who earn below the poverty line or 30 percent of the area median. Last year, they found that for every 100 households categorized as extremely low income (ELI), only 35 affordable rental homes are available—a shortage of over 7 million affordable and available homes. That same figure stands today.

Part of this shortage is caused by an influx of higher income households into more affordable homes: Almost half of the affordable rental units are occupied by families that earn above the poverty line. As incomes get higher, cumulative shortages get less pronounced. Households that earn less than 50 percent AMI have 56 affordable and available rental homes; those below 80 percent have 93.....................................Read More

Want Affordable Housing? Just Build More Of It

March 14, 2018                          By:  Noah Smith

Urban California should emulate Tokyo, which ensured the supply of dwellings stayed ahead of population growth.

After years of dithering and hoping the problem would go away, California is finally taking steps to address its housing crisis. In 2017 the state passed a series of billsdesigned to encourage the construction of new affordable housing -- streamlining the regulatory approval process, providing more state funding and cracking down on local governments that fall short of their housing goals. Now, state Senator Scott Wiener is pushing a new more aggressive package of legislation.

Build up, not out.     Photographer: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/UIG/Getty Images

The most dramatic change Weiner would make, which is similar to a parallel effort in the state assembly, would be to force cities to allow dense housing development near public transit. This is a great idea to help poor Californians, since lower-income people are more likely to use transit, and are the ones suffering the most from the housing shortage. Sadly, the bill is already encountering opposition from homeowners’ groups, which are no doubt eager to push up their property values. It is also receiving pushback from the Sierra Club, which offered the tortured rationale that allowing dense housing near public transit would cause political support for transit to drop. Other opponents claim that allowing new development would raise rents -- a dubious assertion that is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely...................Read More

With U.S. affordable housing in crisis, Trump admin wants to cut aid

March 13, 2018                               By: Patrick Sisson

The Gap, a new report by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, illustrates depth of affordable housing crisis

For many low-income Americans, a safe and affordable home is becoming increasingly hard to find. According to The Gap, a new report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released earlier today, at a time when more and more Americans are burdened with above-average housing costs, the Trump administration seeks to cut federal programs that provide housing assistance and support and strengthen public housing infrastructure.

According to author Andrew Aurand, the NLIHC’s vice president for research, the problem has gotten worse over the last decade. The shortage of affordable rental units has increased from 5.8 to 7.2 million, and a larger percentage of the growing rental population can be considered extremely low-income renters.

Nationwide, 8 million Americans pay more than half their income on rent each month. To place it in perspective, of every 100 rental units nationwide, only 35 are available or affordable to extremely low-income renters (defined as households with incomes at or below the Poverty Guideline or 30% of area median income, whichever is higher). That number gets lower in many metros areas in the south and west.......................Read More

Detroit to boost low-income housing with $250M fund

March 12, 2018                      By: Nicquel Terry, The Detroit News

Detroit — City officials have rolled out a plan to create a $250 million fund that would allow them to preserve 10,000 affordable housing units and develop 2,000 more in the next five years.

Detroiter Stella Buchanan is pleased to be able to live downtown, with some help from the city. Detroit Director of Housing and Revitalization Arthur Jamison talks about the city's plan to preserve and develop affordable housing units. Daniel Mears, The Detroit News

"The preservation and creation of affordable housing is the cornerstone of our growth strategy,” said Mayor Mike Duggan, who first announced the multifamily affordable housing plan during his state of the city speech last week.

"Affordable housing offers stability for the city’s low-income residents and provides options to households at a range of incomes in all neighborhoods. This is what we are talking about when we say that we are building one city for all of us.”.............Read More

It's Time to Take a Stand for Affordable Housing

February 28, 2018                            By:  Stephen Whyte

Remember Archie Bunker? Not really? That’s ok – it’s an old reference. Archie Bunker was the protagonist of the hit 70s sitcom “All in the Family.” As the name implies, he was a family man – hard working, gruff, charming and bigoted in a way that wouldn’t fly on television today.

But that’s not the only thing about Archie that doesn’t stand the test of time. Because in the 1970s, on his salary as a New York loading dock foreman, Archie and his family rented a home in Flushing, Queens. In today’s world, that math doesn’t work. Archie would earn a salary of roughly $50,000 per year – enough to realistically afford a rent of about $1,250 per month. The Bunker’s home would rent for at least twice that. And don’t get me started on the rent-controlled fantasies of “Friends” or “Seinfeld.”

That’s a lot of talk about long-gone television, but it demonstrates a very real problem. A nationwide crisis that, in my 25 years in affordable housing development, I have seen grow from a conversation into a full-blown national crisis........Read More

Affordable housing advocacy group wants to make it a campaign issue

March 1, 2018                                   By: Patrick Sisson

Despite the country’s continuing rental affordability crisis, housing was never brought up during the three main debates of the 2016 presidential election.

This year, a new coalition of housing groups and non-profits wants to make sure affordable housing becomes a focus of the midterm political debate.

Shutterstock

Via a series of promotions and videos, as well as a feature-length documentary coming out this fall, the Home1 advocacy campaign seeks to sound a clear warning about the scope of this problem and make this “silent crisis” part of the larger debate.

According to Stephen Whyte, founder and managing director of Vitus, an affordable housing developer and member of Home1, the organization doesn’t have any particular policy proposals. It’s just pushing for general support of existing housing solutions, funding for more affordable housing, and getting the message out to the public and politicians........................Read More

Report: Thousands of Affordable Units Could Go Market-Rate as Tax Credit Deals Lapse

March 1, 2018                                     By: Jarrett Murphy

A new set of threats to affordable housing is looming in New York City, thanks to the Trump administration, the real-estate market and time itself, according to a report released Thursday by the Community Service Society.

Data from CSS/Chart by City Limits

The administration’s proposed cuts to the Section 8 program could cost the city tens of thousands of the federal vouchers that make the math of affordable housing work for many low-income families. And the expiration of affordability agreements tied to Low-Income Housing Tax Credits could mean thousands of other units end up on the open market, with the Trump tax cuts making it harder to issue new credits that close the gap.

Those worries add to existing concerns about Mitchell-Lama developments and project-based Section 8 buildings going market rate. Nearly a third of the 119,000 units in those programs shed their affordability restrictions between 1990 and 2008.............Read More