General News

The Virginia General Assembly approved an amendment from Governor Northam (D) to increase appropriations for the Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF) by $4 million in FY 2019 and FY 2020. T

A new national survey on the connection between homes and health from NH&RA member Enterprise Community Partners Inc. (Enterprise) finds that more than half of renters surveyed have delayed care because they couldn’t afford it and 100 percent of medical professionals surveyed have had at least some of their patients express concerns about affordable housing.

The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign released the results of a national public opinion poll showing that the vast majority of the public (85 percent) believes that ensuring everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to live should be a “top national priority.”

Join the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Chicago staff to learn more about the 2019 competitive Affordable Housing Program (AHP). Workshops cover eligibility, project feasibility and changes to the scoring guidelines. Member institutions, potential sponsors and project consultants are encouraged to attend.

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) opened a Land Acquisition Program (LAP) in November of 2018 with $2.5 million in available resources. This program is designed to provide loans for purchasing land for affordable homeownership and affordable rental housing. Loan periods may not exceed 8 years and loan terms are 1 percent simple interest and a 1 percent loan fee is paid at the time of the construction loan.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced awards totaling $302 million from the No Place Like Home program. HCD also announced awards totaling $11 million from the federal Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program.

Nashville Mayor David Briley unveiled his 10-year housing plan, Under One Roof 2029. The initiative aims to create at least 10,000 new units by investing $750 million over the next 10 years in affordable housing in Nashville, with $500 million of that coming from the city.

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) upzones that allow higher density and impose affordable housing requirements on more than two dozen neighborhoods. This action upzones 27 neighborhood hubs, requiring developers in those areas to set aside 5 to 11 percent of their developments as affordable units or pay $5 to $32.75 per square foot in fees.

A Multifamily in Focus research paper released by Freddie Mac shows that the Opportunity Zones tax incentives will likely lead to a significant influx of capital to multifamily investments in Opportunity Zones. The research paper compares a hypothetical investment under the tax structures offered by both traditional and Opportunity Fund circumstances.

Fannie Mae announced that it appointed Hugh Frater as Chief Executive Officer effective March 26. Fannie Mae also announced that it appointed Stergios Theologides as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary effective March 28.

Facebook announced changes to how it manages housing, employment and credit ads as a result of legal settlement agreements with the National Fair Housing Alliance, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Communication Workers of America.

The Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington launched a $1 billion Capital Regional Housing Challenge, that encourages the D.C. region’s public and private sectors to each add $500 million in affordable housing investments above their current baseline by the end of 2020.