Federal / Agency News

On January 27, the Bipartisan Policy Center hosted the first of its Housing Innovators events, focused on new technological developments in rental housing access.   What You Need to Know:  Watch the full webinar at this link.

The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California Berkeley published The Cost of Fragmentation: A Comparison of State Affordable Housing Finance Governance Systems, a report analyzing how states structure and administer affordable housing programs.

National Housing Trust (NHT) developed topic-specific “Infobriefs” that explain how allocating agencies are integrating policies that create and preserve housing options that are stable, resilient, and foster agency.   Recently published, their Senior Housing Infobrief showcases how households of older adults, many of whom are on a fixed-income, can benefit from affordable and accessible Housing Credit properties.

Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and 16 Democratic Senators introduced The American Homeownership Act. In Context: The introduction of this bill is Democrats’ response to Trump’s executive order signed in January to ban large institutional investors […]

In Tuesday’s State of the Union, President Trump highlighted his January executive order banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes and urged Congress to make it permanent, saying, “Homes are for people, not for corporations.” He also mentioned First Lady Melania Trump’s Foster Youth to Independence Initiative, a $30 million effort to provide housing […]

Last week, HUD issued a proposed rule to require all applicants and recipients of HUD-assisted housing to verify U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status. Why This Matters: Currently, mixed-status families may live in subsidized housing, but assistance is prorated to cover only eligible individuals. Tenants with mixed-status families will have to choose between HUD-assisted housing […]

Enterprise released a 108-page report titled Curbing the Insurance Spiral: Policy and Practitioner Strategies to Help Stabilize Multifamily Affordable Housing. The report explores the issues driving insurance challenges for housing providers and offers a framework to help solve them, shining light on ways to reduce property and liability policies through partnership and collaboration. Practical guidance […]

HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the availability of federal disaster assistance to Mississippi and Tennessee to supplement recovery efforts in areas impacted by the severe winter storm from January 23-27, 2026.

HUD further extended the energy efficiency standards compliance deadline from May 28 to December 31, 2026. The chart below shares which programs are impacted by new deadlines: Go Deeper: See our November 12 edition for the history and list of past extensions, with the most recent being on November 10.

On February 13, 2026, HUD issued a notice updating the 2020 Section 3 Rule “Enhancing and Streamlining the Implementation of Section 3 Requirements for Creating Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons and Eligible Businesses” by establishing new Section 3 project thresholds. The thresholds increased from $200K to $300K for Housing and Community Development […]

FHFA issued a final rule repealing its May 2024 Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans regulation, which required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to publish equitable housing finance plans. FHFA states the previous rule was unnecessary because the Enterprises are already subject to fair housing laws and maintains the plans […]

HUD announced FY 2026 income limits will be released May 1, a month later than previously expected. A recent Notes from Novogradac blog post provides insight on what to expect with the FY 2026 rent and income limits.