The U.S. Treasury Department recently announced new guidance to increase the ability of state, local, and tribal governments to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to boost the supply of affordable housing in their communities.The context: The updated Treasury guidance follows a commitment in the Biden administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan to leverage American Rescue Plan funds for investments in affordable housing as part of a broader effort to increase the nation’s housing supply and lower housing costs.
LIHTC sites that exit the LIHTC program often remain more affordable than conventional market rate properties that were never subsidized, even if they are not resyndicated, according to recently published research by Freddie Mac Multifamily. The research fulfills commitments under Freddie Mac’s Duty to Serve and Equitable Housing Finance Plans and is intended to paint a picture of the risk that currently exists in the market and the potential severity of affordability loss.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Underserved Market Plans for 2022–2024. The plans outline how each firm intends to meet its obligations under FHFA’s Enterprise Duty-to-Serve Rule.
A group of 30 national housing organizations recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to protect the LIHTC and other key financing tools from the potential effects of a global corporate minimum tax on large multinational corporations.
The Biden administration recently submitted to Congress the President's budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2023. As part of the request, the budget proposes additional LIHTCs to help increase housing supply and help to stabilize housing prices over the long term.
The IRS recently published Notice 2022-12, which provides the resident population figures needed to determine the 2021 population-based component of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) ceiling. The notice reveals that from 2021 to 2022, the U.S. population increased by 2,409,622 residents to 331,893,745 people, a gain of 0.7 percent.
The Treasury Department recently released quarterly data on the use of funds in the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) programs in calendar year 2021. The data shows the program's success in reaching households most in need given the challenges of implementing a brand-new program that required coordination among many participants.
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have introduced the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. The bill would reauthorize VAWA through 2027. The House passed its VAWA reauthorization bill, HR1620, in 2021.
To keep up with housing payments during the pandemic, renters have had to tap a wide range of financial resources, reports Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) in “Making the Rent: Household Spending Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The report examines how households have managed their finances and rental payments in response to income loss during the pandemic. Researchers pulled data from U.S.
In early January, a tragic rowhouse fire broke out and killed 12 people, including nine children. The rowhouse was one of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s “scattered site” properties. These are units throughout the city that are owned and managed by the authority but are not part of larger public housing complexes.
