Affordable Housing

In a new Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University blog post, Sam Gilman makes the case for using community income levels to help tenants get Emergency Rental Assistance. Gilman is the co-founder and COO of the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project.

The House Financial Services Committee completed their work on Tuesday and sent their portion of the bill to the House floor with a 30-24 party-line vote. The committee voted down all of the amendments offered by Republicans.  

Last week, the White House released a sweeping set of actions the Biden-Harris administration is taking to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The Senate voted 69-31 August 10 to pass the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package (with $550 billion in new spending), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684). All 50 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted in favor of the bill. This legislation does not include any LIHTC provisions, but it does include several housing-adjacent provisions.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition released its annual “Out of Reach” report for 2021, detailing the gap between the cost of rental housing and tenants’ incomes across the nation. This year’s report reveals the extent to which costs have outpaced wages far before the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further exacerbated hardships and inequalities for low wage workers disproportionately affecting those who are Black, Brown, Indigenous and/or Latino. Whether the market is in a period of economic growth or downturn, low-wage workers struggle to find affordable homes.  

JLL Capital Markets announced that it has arranged financing for Elizabeth Gardens, a 140-unit garden-style workforce housing community located at 8400 NW 25th Ave. in Miami, FL.

Multifamily assisted households are eligible to enroll in the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), a Federal Communications Commission subsidy program to help families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is seeking proposals from qualified applicants to request an allocation of the Qualified Workforce Housing Tax Credit.

HUD is offering an eight-part web-based modular training course for HUD grantees and funding recipients on Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition (URA) Policies Act of 1970, as amended  requirements for HUD funded projects. Module one provides an overview of the URA.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Housing Supply and Affordability Act to create a new $300 million per year grant program to help localities develop and implement comprehensive housing policy plans.

National Housing & Rehabilitation Association joined more than 30 organizations in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo calling for a review and remedies for lumber prices that have nearly tripled in the past year.

In “Pandemic’s Toll on Housing: Falling Behind, Doubling Up,” the New York Times draws attention to the housing insecurity renters face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, even with eviction moratoriums in place.