HUD Approves 41 HTF Allocations Plans to Date

The Housing Trust Fund (HTF) is an affordable housing production program that complements existing federal, state, and local efforts to increase and preserve the affordable housing supply for extremely low- and very low-income households, including homeless families. The HTF was established under Title I of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Section 1131. HTF funds may be used for the production or preservation of affordable housing through the acquisition, new construction, reconstruction, and/or rehabilitation of non-luxury housing with suitable amenities.

Under the program, states and state-designated entities are eligible grantees for the HTF. HUD will allocate HTF funds by formula annually. And a state must use at least 80 percent of each annual grant for rental housing; up to 10 percent for homeownership; and up to 10 percent for the grantee’s reasonable administrative and planning costs. All HTF-assisted units will be required to have a minimum affordability period of 30 years.

As of March 3, HUD has approved 41 national HTF Allocation Plans. Of the 41, HUD has publicly identified 25 states. The HUD Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) publicly identifies the states that have approved HTF Allocation Plans only after the state’s congressional delegation is notified and the state has obligated its HTF allocation by entering the required information into CPD’s management information system.

A state’s Allocation Plan must describe the requirements to be met by entities applying for HTF funds and the criteria the state will use to select applications. Allocation Plans must give funding priority to applications based on a number of features listed in the statute, including:

• The extent to which rents are affordable, especially for extremely low-income households;
• The length of time rents will remain affordable;
• The project’s merit such as housing that serves people with special needs, housing accessible to transit or employment centers, and housing that includes green building and sustainable development elements; and
• Geographic diversity.