Housing Call: December 12, 2023 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

Coalition Updates

Our last housing call of the year will be on December 19th! We will be back in 2024 on January 9th!

Remember, if you want to go back and listen to a past podcast, or review the call notes visit our website at https://nchousing.org/podcast/.

Bringing it Home workshop proposals due January 12!

As preparations begin for the 2024 Bringing It Home Conference on Ending Homelessness in North Carolina on June 4-5, 2024, the NC Department of Health and Human Services ESG Office, the NC Coalition to End Homelessness, and the NC Housing Coalition are calling for presentation proposals.

Presentations will be 1 hour and 15 minutes long and include 10-15 minutes of Q&A or discussion. Presentations could be chosen as stand-alone sessions or chosen as a part of a panel. At this time, we are planning an in-person conference at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Please note that presentations need to include one or more of the topics of interest listed. Visit this link for more details as well as the submission form: https://nchousing.org/bringing-it-home-2024/.

Federal Updates

Last week NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel served as a witness at a U.S House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing that was titled “Housing Affordability: Governmental Barriers and Market-Based Solutions” on December 6. The purpose of the hearing was to examine the role of market-based solutions in responding to the affordable housing crisis and the ways that government regulations can impede these solutions. In the hearing they highlighted several issues:
While rents have gone up- in some areas by double-digit growth – median income for renter households actually went down between 2019 and 2021”
Diane Yentel emphasized the disproportionate impact of the affordable housing crisis on individuals and families that are paid the lowest wages. She noted that “Rents are far higher than what the lowest-income and most marginalized renters-including seniors, people with disabilities, and working families – can depend on housing. She also expressed that the affordable housing shortage is fundamentally caused by market failures and the chronic underfunding of solutions”.
She also mentioned that in the last two years we have seen a significant increase in fair housing complaints, and a significant portion of those complaints being related to discrimination on source of income.

To read more about this hearing, click here.

Recently, FHA Proposed Enhancements to Make Home Rehabilitation Program More Effective for Homebuyers and Homeowners. The 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program is designed to help borrowers purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage and include the cost of repairs or rehabilitation into one new mortgage. The proposed changes would update the program and make it more useful for today’s market by increasing flexibility for borrowers (which includes increasing maximum allowable rehab costs, and extending the rehabilitation period), and decreasing the operational burdens for lenders, 203(k) consultants, and other program participants.
HUD announces 2024 Loan Limits for FHA Forward Mortgages and HECMs | Consumer Finance Monitor. The U.S. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2024 loan limits for FHA insured forward mortgage loans and FHA insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs).
New Legislation Proposes to Take Wall Street Out of the Housing Market – The New York Times

NC Democrat Reps. Alma Adams and Jeff Jackson introduced the American Neighborhoods Protection Act last week. It would require landlords with over 75 single family homes to contribute $10K per house, annually towards a Housing Trust Fund to be used for downpayment assistance. It’s not likely to pass with a divided Congress this session but, as The New York Times points out, it starts a conversation. You may remember that over the summer the Times reported that corporate landlords in Charlotte purchased 17% of the of the city’s homes in cash, pricing out many would-be buyers.

State Updates

North Carolina seeks public comment on state’s digital equity plan | StateScoop

The NC Division of Broadband and Digital Equity recently released a draft of the state’s Digital Equity Plan. It’s open for public comment via email until noon on Jan. 2. You can find a link to the executive summary and plan in call notes.
- Executive summary available in both English and Spanish.

State Legislative Updates

Several state lawmakers filed for election or announced other bids, or have announced that they are retiring, as more candidates file, check out the State Board of Elections’ Candidate Lists.

Additional information about announcements are linked below:

https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/elections/patrick-mchenry-tim-moore-house/

NCGA State lawmakers are set to convene again on December 20, as we mentioned last week, they will convene a few more times before the beginning of the short session, which is scheduled to begin on April 24, 2024.

We will continue to monitor any issues brought forward regarding housing or related issues, as well as any potential technical corrections regarding the FY23-25 state budget.

Reminder

The short session is the season held in the second – even – year of the biennium. During this session only certain matters can be considered, and are outlined in the adjournment resolution voted on in order to determine their eligibility. A matter can also be considered if authorized by a joint resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of each chamber’s members present and voting.

We will continue to monitor the bills discussed during the short session, particularly the ones we have already included in our bill tracker that survived crossover, as well as any bills directly affecting the State budget and other key matters that impact housing and community development.

See the Legislative Memo from November 13, 2023 summarizing the NCGA schedule, short session, and crossover bills (not all eligible bills for 2024).

Here is a list of 2023-2024 Legislation that has Effective dates of July 1, 2023 through January 1, 2024.

Local Community Updates

Town Advances Affordable Housing Goals with Selection of Development Partner for Legion Property | The Town of Chapel Hill has selected DHIC as their affordable housing Development Partner for the Legion Property development. The project is expected to create 160 units and take 3-5 years to complete.
Steadfast in mission, Habitat battles rising Charlotte home prices | The Charlotte Observer recently published a piece about Optimist Park, a 1987 Habitat Charlotte community near Uptown and one of the organization’s first developments in the area. The article details the benefits and challenges the community has faced as the neighborhood has gentrified. It’s a long but interesting read.
Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region to create its first mixed-income development: Carya Pond in Northeast Charlotte – Mecklenburg Times | Last week, Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region announced a formal partnership to create a mixed-income community formally known as Carya Pond. Habitat will partner with Kingdom Development and Harmon Construction to create 40 Habitat homes and 43 market rate homes.
Habitat for Humanity buys land for $1 to build an affordable housing community in Raleigh Habitat for Humanity in Raleigh recently purchased a parcel of land along Poole Rd. for $1 from the city. The property, which is across from a GoRaleigh Transit Hub, will be the future site of 9 townhomes designed to provide affordable homeownership opportunities.
Rising rent prices, Rolesville affordable housing complex residents question where to go next | Residents at the Grande at Granite Falls recently received news that their rents will be going up by 50-60% when they renew their leases. The property was awarded tax credits in 2014 and serves seniors ages 62+.

Several local governments around the state have released data on their 2023 affordable housing achievements.

Chatham County State of the County – 2023
- Over $330K awarded from Housing Trust Fund established in 2018, bringing the total amount awarded since inception to over $1M.
- Emergency Housing Trust Fund dedicated over $100K to eviction prevention efforts
- Affordable Housing Advisory Committee doubled in size

Community organizations, Town officials look back at affordable housing in 2023 (Chapel Hill)
- Missing Middle text amendment passed
- Broke ground on PEACH Apartments for extremely low income individuals/families.
- Approved 380 affordable units this year
- Received $5M from UNC Health for the affordable housing revolving loan fund

Wake County Annual Housing Report – 2023
- Received almost $27M for the development of 900 units
- Wake County has created or preserved more than 3,500 homes since 2019
- However, an affordable housing deficit of 65,860 units still exists

Reports & Resources

Now Available! New Brief on the History, Successes, and Highlights of NLIHC’s ERASE Project! | NLIHC
Funding Navigator | HUD Exchange
Guide To The 2023 Community Reinvestment Act Final Rule | National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Social Housing Goals in State Housing Allocation Plans A 50-State Survey | Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Homelessness in U.S. Cities and downtowns | Brookings

Events

[webinar] Applying for HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program | Enterprise, December 14, 2023, 12:30 PM Join to hear what it takes to apply to HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program. Presenting organizations have received awards under the ‘Elements’ and ‘Leading Edge’ cohorts for both grants and loans and will share about the application process and lessons learned.
[in person, $25 or sliding cost] Economy for All 2024: Building a Better North Carolina | January 17 @ 6:30 p.m., Hayti Heritage Center in Durham
[webinar] Housing Technology Series Event 2: Planning for New Supply | HUD & Terner Housing Innovation Labs, January 18, 1-2:30 EST