At the Iowa Finance Authority, innovation drives our efforts to turn new ideas in housing and finance into impactful realities. The Innovation Set-Aside is a unique opportunity, the only competition of its kind in the country, designed to advance affordable housing solutions in ways that may not always be achievable through the traditional nine percent tax credit round. 
  
The most competitive projects in this set-aside will showcase multiple innovations, while aligning with the mission and goals of Iowa’s Federal Housing Tax Credit Program, including promoting partnerships, affordability, durability and prime locations. 

One project may be selected to apply under the Innovation Set-Aside for the 2026 Federal Housing Tax Credit Allocation Round. If the selected project meets program requirements, the project will receive up to $1 million in Federal Housing Tax Credits. Interested applicants must submit a pre-application. IFA will review pre-applications and identify finalists to present on their concept at the 2025 HousingIowa Conference. The Set-Aside applicant will be selected and announced at the conference. This year marks the third edition of the Innovation Set-Aside. 

Innovation Pre-Application Review and Selection Timeline: 

  • All applicants interested in participating in the Innovation Set-Aside during the 2026 allocation year must submit a completed pre-application; 
  • The pre-application is available in the Iowa Finance Authority Online Application System (TAC) beginning Jan. 6, 2025; 
  • The deadline for submission of the pre-application is May 1, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Central Time; 
  • The IFA team will select up to four finalists to present at the Innovation Set-Aside competition for the opportunity to submit a 2026 LIHTC Innovation Set-Aside full application. IFA reserves the right to select no finalists; and 
  • All applicants will be notified of the selected finalists for the Innovation Set-Aside competition by email no later than July 1, 2025. Finalists must accept the opportunity to compete in the Innovation Set-Aside competition by July 11, 2025. Finalists must make an in-person presentation at the 2025 HousingIowa Conference (Sept. 3-4, 2025) that will be open to conference attendees. 

For more information regarding the Innovation Set-Aside, click here. 

To complete the Innovation Pre-Application, click here.