Organizational Updates
2024 Conference Presentations Are Now Available!
We are excited to announce that presentations from the 2024 North Carolina Affordable Housing Conference are now available for download on the conference website! We hope these resources help you continue your work in creating affordable housing solutions.
If you haven’t already, please share your feedback in the survey to help us and our conference planning partners continue to make this conference great. We will see you for next year’s conference on Sept 30-Oct 1.
Housing Day 2025
We hope you join us on Wednesday April 9, 2025 at the NC General Assembly for our Housing Day. Plan to engage from 8:30am-3:30pm.Please also tentatively reserve the late afternoon of April 8, 2025 for an opportunity to connect with advocates, allies, and practitioners across the state and prepare together for the legislative day of action on April 9th. More information around time, meeting locations, advocacy preparation, and more will be released in the coming months. To be on the list to be notified directly about our 2025 Housing Day at the NC General Assembly, please fill out this brief form in the call notes.
Federal Updates
- Biden-Harris Administration Awards $10 Million to Protect and Empower Low-Income Tenants Last week, HUD announced $10 million in grants to expand tenant education opportunities and resources for low-income residents who live in Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program. This funding can be used for training and technical assistance, as well as establishing and operating tenant organizations. Funds awarded to tenant advocacy organizations are available through HUD’s Tenant Education Outreach (TEO) Program. The TEO program will help tenants in their efforts to work productively with property management, hold management accountable for property conditions, improve management and oversight of these multifamily properties, and advocate to preserve affordability.
- HUD Updates Regulations to Lower Housing Costs and Build Safe and Affordable Manufactured Homes
Yesterday, the Department of Housing & Urban Development published a final rule in the Federal Register to update the HUD code for manufactured homes. Over 90 changes were made, making it the most extensive update to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards in over 30 years. Changes are aimed at easing unnecessary red tap around the development of manufactured housing so that it can be built in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The American Community Survey released their 2023 1-year annual estimates last week. The Census Bureau releases 1 year estimates every fall and 5 year estimates every December. 1 year estimates use data from the previous year, while 5 year estimates look at data from the past 5 years. The survey doesn’t sample enough people to provide reliable 1-year data for smaller population, leaving many of our smaller counties out. This is why we use 5-year estimates in our County Profiles . However, the 1-year survey data is useful for looking at larger populations.
1-year estimates released last week indicates that 49.7% of American renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of the gross income on rent and utilities. This represents a slight decrease since last year. However, in North Carolina, renter cost burden rose slightly from 48.5% in 2022 to 48.9% in 2023. Data at both levels continues to show racial disparities, with a larger percent of nonwhite households experiencing cost burden compared to white households.
State & Local Updates
- 2025 Supportive Housing Development Program – Notice of publication on the NCHFA website
Attention nonprofit housing and services providers, nonprofit developers of supportive housing, NC local government entities, for-profit developers of integrated Olmstead compliant permanent rental housing, and Housing Development Consultants:
The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is pleased to announce the availability of funding for our Supportive Housing Development Program under the 2025 funding cycle. The SHDP Guidelines and Instructions, Project Description and Site Visit request form, and additional application information can be found on the Agency’s website.
SHDP eligible properties serve the following populations:
- People with mental health, physical, or developmental disabilities
- People experiencing homelessness or imminently at risk of homelessness
- People with substance use disorders
- Children and youth in foster care, or youth aging out of foster care
- Victims/Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking (a separate program exclusively for victims/survivors of human trafficking will be announced at a later date)
- Adults reentering the community after being released from correctional facilities
- For the 2025 cycle, bonus points are available for projects serving veterans who are homeless or imminently at risk of homelessness
- For the 2025 cycle, bonus points continue to be available for integrated Olmstead compliant permanent rental housing
SHDP process:
- All Projects and Sites must be approved before a complete application can be submitted.
- A Project Description and Site Visit Request Form (if rehabilitation, a SHD Property Inspection Form is also required), available on our website, must be submitted by Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
- The deadline for submission of the complete application (Part 1 and Part 2 and exhibits) is 5:00 PM on Monday, March 03, 2025. The Applicant must submit the complete application through the SHD portal for their SHDP application to be considered for the 2025 cycle. If the project and site are approved, the Applicant will receive application submittal information at a later date.
- The minimum funding match percentages (30% of 40% depending on locality) and the maximum awards amount ($1,300,000 or $1,200,000 depending on locality) remain the same.
SHDP Eligible Uses are:
- New Construction with or without site acquisition
- Rehabilitation of housing or facility
- Acquisition of housing or facility with or without rehabilitation
If you have questions or would like to meet with supportive housing staff to discuss a potential project, please contact SHDevelopment@nchfa.com.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Across 100 initiative is launching an 18-month program supporting a group of community collaboratives seeking to improve access to and availability of affordable housing options in North Carolina. The Our State, Our Homes: Partnering to Address Housing Needs in North Carolina program seeks applications from communities that are interested in working across sectors to improve access to and availability of affordable housing options in the state. Communities of all sizes and contexts are invited to apply.
Teams will build collaboratives within their communities and benefit from peer learning from one another. Together, they will work to better understand the context and challenges of affordable housing and related issues, as well as design and implement strategies to respond effectively. The program will be supported by staff from the School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative and other university programs. Online applications are due by October 18, 2024.
To learn more, visit the Our State, Our Homes program page and review the application process before applying. A virtual applicant information session will be held on October 9 at 12 pm.
Questions can be directed to Michael Welker, ncIMPACT Director of Policy and Research Partnerships, at mwelker@sog.unc.edu.
Recently, the Durham Community Land Trust (DCLT) acquired a 48-unit naturally occurring affordable housing apartment complex to add to their portfolio. The complex at the corner of Anderson St and Chapel Hill Rd will continue to remain affordable to eligible renters in perpetuity. DCLT also recently acquired just over 2 acres nearby and plans to build townhomes for sale at prices affordable to families earning 80% of the Area Median Income.
- Greenville Lincoln Park affordable housing approved to hit the market Six new construction affordable homes will soon hit the market in Greenville’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The 3 and 4-bedroom homes, which will all be priced in the low $200,000s, are part of the city’s affordable housing initiative to create affordable homeownership opportunities for families who are increasingly finding themselves priced out of homeownership.
Reports & Resources
- North Carolina Loses Nearly One-Third of Low-Cost Rental Units Over the Last Decade | NCHFA
- Explores NC data from the Joint Center for Housing Studies’ State of the Nation’s Housing 2024, which was released earlier this year.
Events
- [webinar] Housing Policy and Intergenerational Poverty | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), September 19, 4 – 5 pm
- The webinar will highlight findings from a recent report on the determinants of intergenerational poverty and the ways in which long-term poverty cycles can be significantly reduced through housing policy.
- [webinar] Helping Middle-Income Renters: Tradeoffs and Costs | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, September 20, 12:15 pm, registration required.
- [webinar] How Local Governments Can Meet Both Housing and Climate Goals | NYU Furman Center’s Housing Solutions Lab, October 2 at 2 pm
- Affordable Housing Seminar: Tools, Strategies, and Case Studies for Local Government Leadership | UNC School of Government, October 4, 10:00am-5:00pm in Chapel Hill
Course Cost: $260. Registration closes September 25, 2024
This interactive in-person seminar is designed for elected and appointed officials (including managers and department heads) from local governments who are setting strategic direction around affordable housing. The seminar will focus on local government support and public-private partnerships for workforce residential housing.
What You’ll Learn:
- Strategic approaches to affordable housing
- Affordable housing tools and financing mechanisms
- How to assess local housing needs
- Case studies and exercises
- Immediate next steps
- Our State, Our Homes: Partnering to Address Housing Needs in North Carolina Applicant Information Session | October 9, 12 p.m. Register here.
- APA – NC Fall Conference, October 16-18, Greenville, NC
- HOPE NC 2024 Inclusive Housing Summit | November 4, 8 am – 4 pm at The Friday Center in Chapel Hill. Registration cost: $50 individual/$100 professional
In the News
- Rising rates a key issue in race for NC insurance commissioner | NC Newsline
- Links Between Health and Place in Durham | Duke University School of Medicine
- Harris and Trump’s Proposals to Help the Housing Crisis | TIME
