What's Eliminated in Trump's 2020 Budget Plan

March 22, 2019                                By: Donna Kimura

HOME, CDBG, Housing Trust Fund, and other key housing programs are proposed to be cut.

The Trump administration is once again proposing to eliminate or reduce key housing programs in its fiscal 2020 budget proposal.

The approximately $44.1 billion spending plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is about $9.6 billion, or 18%, below the fiscal 2019 enacted level.

Here are 10 key takeaways:

· The HOME Investment Partnerships program would be eliminated. No funding is proposed for HOME, which received $1.25 billion in fiscal 2019;

· The Community Development Block Grant program would be eliminated. No funding is proposed for the grants, which received $3.3 billion in the final 2019 budget;

· The National Housing Trust Fund, which was authorized by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, would be eliminated. The president’s budget seeks to eliminate the assessments on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that support the Housing Trust Fund. HUD anticipates receiving approximately $245 million from the calendar year 2018 collection, which will be distributed to the states in fiscal 2019;..........................Read More

Ben Carson says HUD will give preference to developers who build affordable housing in Opportunity Zones

March 12, 2019                     By: Keith Larsen

In an interview with The Real Deal, Carson also said he's now open to staying on as HUD secretary for a second term

HUD Secretary Ben Carson and a map of Opportunity Zones (Credit: Getty Images)

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said the agency will give preference to developers and investors who build affordable housing in federal Opportunity Zones when it comes to certain grants.

In an interview with The Real Deal on Tuesday, Carson said HUD will give added weight to proposed affordable developments in the Opportunity Zones, looking to make that construction a more competitive option for builders. But he acknowledged the agency could not mandate the construction of affordable housing in the 8,700 designated Opportunity Zones nationwide.

“If you are doing a project within an Opportunity Zone and you are applying for one of our grants, you get some preference,” Carson said during the interview. “So that, along with the tax advantages, will drive people to look at those (areas). We are also offering very specific technical assistance to help them coordinate their efforts.”................Read More

The Des Moines metro needs 11,848 affordable units for low-income renters, a new study says

March 15, 2019                                   By: Kim Norvell, Des Moines Register

Extremely low-income families cannot afford to live in 60 percent of central Iowa rental units, according to a new study released Friday.

To fill the gap in affordable housing, the Des Moines metro needs to add 11,848 homes for those renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The organization also found that 85.15 percent of those families — a family of four earning $25,100 a year or less — spend more than half of their income on rent.

"For rent" sign. (Photo: KaraGrubis, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In Des Moines, that family would need to earn $31,226 a year to not be "rent burdened" in a 2-bedroom house — a term experts use to describe families who spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

"This crushing financial burden leaves little left for necessities such as food, transportation and health care," said Eric Burmeister, executive director of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, who partnered on the study...............Read More

The Need for an Affordable Housing Reboot

February 28, 2019                                     By: Richard F. Burns & Robert Friant

Leaders at The NHP Foundation and CSH call for news ways to think about housing and health care.

How can the affordable housing industry—and our partners—ensure the right housing is built for those who will benefit from it now and in the years to come? We offer five steps to create an “affordable housing reboot” that addresses this question and the many societal concerns that go along with it.

1. Redefining Who Affordable Housing Helps

Typically, housing providers plan for residents who can pass stringent standards for employment, criminal background checks, etc., and do not coordinate with other sectors when considering perspective tenants. But to truly reduce the number of very low-income people facing homelessness, the affordable housing industry should change this dynamic by establishing referral relationships with health-sector partners, creating set-asides for people with special needs, and reducing all but the most significant barriers with a screen-in, rather than a screen-out, approach.

In some places, health-care partners are already stepping up to the plate and implementing much of this direction.

For example, the University of Illinois Hospital leads the “Better Health Through Housing” initiative, which has provided 42 homeless individuals with affordable supportive housing. Since the program began in November 2015, UI’s research has revealed significant benefits for hospitals to house the homeless. Their efforts have resulted in a 21% decrease in health-care costs, a 67% drop in emergency department visits, and a similar reduction in in-patient hospitalizations.................Read More

A Tough Road Ahead

November 1, 2018                                By: Donna Kimura

Interest rates, costs continue to rise for developers.

All eyes will be on interest rates as the calendar turns to 2019.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point, to a range of 2% to 2.25% near the end of September, the third hike this year. Additional increases are also expected in the months ahead.

Columbia Residential recently opened Columbia Renaissance Square, a mixed-income development in Fort Worth, Texas. The first phase has 140 units, and a second phase contains 120 units of seniors housing. The Atlanta-based firm owns approximately 8,000 housing units.

“Interest rates have continued to increase, and the yield curve has flattened,” says Richard Gerwitz, co-head of Citi Community Capital. “Those are the two outstanding changes in the capital markets this year. While we’re still in a relative low point if you look over the last 30 years or more, rates have climbed and there’s certainly concern that the trend will continue.”

He points out that the 10-year Treasury is cracking 3%, compared with about 2.3% a year ago, a 70–basis point increase...............Read More

Trump Administration FY 2020 Budget Blueprint Proposes $9.6 Billion Cut to HUD, Eliminates CDFI Fund Grant Funding

March 11, 2019                            By: Peter Lawrence

The Trump administration today released its $4.7 trillion fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget request, which includes $750 billion in defense spending including overseas contingency operations and other adjustments and $567 billion for nondefense spending including adjustments. The proposed base nondefense discretionary spending cap is $543 billion, a cut of $54 billion from FY 2019 spending cap.

Of the nondefense discretionary budget, the administration requested $44.1 in gross U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spending, a $9.6 billion (18 percent) cut from the amount appropriated in FY 2019, but $2.9 billion more than the FY 2019 request.

Highlights of the FY 2019 HUD budget blueprint follow.

Program eliminations

As with previous budget requests, the blueprint proposes to eliminate the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnership and Public Housing Capital Fund programs. The programs received $3.3 billion, $1.25 billion, and $2.8 billion respectively.

Rental Assistance renewal funding

The FY 2020 blueprint provides $37.9 billion “to maintain services to all currently assisted low-income families,” which presumably covers HUD’s rental assistance programs, such as the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Project-based Rental Assistance, Public Housing Operating Fund, expiration of Sections 202 and 811 rental assistance, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, and Housing for People With AIDS (HOPWA). However, the blueprint continues to propose to reforms to require “work-able” individuals to pay more and subject them to work a minimum of 20 hours a week or participate in training or educational activities. The Republican-controlled Congress considered these reform proposals in the past two budgets and rejected them.................Read More