Federal updates
- The IRS has issued guidance to extend key LIHTC program deadlines & provide other flexibilities aimed at relieving the continued impacts of COVID-19. The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition has a summary of the guidance and extensions on its blog.
- Final guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury on State Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF) includes a requirement that all funds be expended by December 31, 2026. In North Carolina, the state has allocated $170 million in these funds to the Workforce Housing Loan Program (WHLP) to help finance LIHTC developments. The final Treasury guidance makes loans with maturities after 2026 infeasible, which creates a barrier to deploying WHLP funds. Stay tuned for an additional call later this week with details on what this means for North Carolina.
- The future of Build Back Better is still unclear as Democrats in the Senate focus on voting rights legislation and potential changes to the filibuster Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are key to both voting rights and Build Back Better negotiations. In December, Senator Manchin announced he wouldn’t support the Build Back Better Act as a comprehensive spending package. There is speculation that core provisions of the bill could still be advanced, but housing provisions would be at risk in a slimmed-down version of the bill (or multiple bills).
- The chairs and ranking members of House and Senate Appropriations Committees met last week to discuss a spending deal for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Federal agencies are currently being funded under a continuing resolution that is set to expire on February 18.
Housing advocates are urging members of Congress to enact a final FY22 spending bill that includes increased funds for housing. The House spending bill, approved in committee in July 2021, would fund HUD programs at $56.6 billion, an increase of $6.8 billion above FY21. If enacted, the bill would provide significant funding increases to nearly all HUD programs and would expand Housing Choice Vouchers to an additional 125,000 households.
North Carolina updates
- In Haywood County, a 137-acre parcel of land in the Panther Creek community will be donated to Mountain Projects to help fund affordable housing. The land is worth $1M, and while not economically feasible to build affordable housing on the property, the property can be sold to support the agency’s existing housing development efforts: Affordable housing gets a giant boost | The Mountaineer
- In Asheville, a proposal for 45 affordable apartments received a yes vote from the planning commission: 45 affordable apartments proposed for Haywood Street in Asheville | MY40
- Asheville City Council will consider rezoning for a proposed 300 unit multi-family apartment building. 10% of the planned apartments will be affordable: Hundreds of apartments proposed for Sardis Road development | ABC 13 News
- Reminder: NCHFA has $11 million in funds available for eligible organizations to rehabilitate owner-occupied homes in selected counties. Completed applications must be submitted by 5:00pm this Friday, 1/21. Details and application materials are available on NCHFA’s website.
Reports/articles/events
- Virtual Event: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies is hosting a discussion on America’s Rental Housing 2022 report this Friday, 1/21 @ 12pm
- Virtual Event: The NYU Environmental Law Journal and the NYU Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law present Free the Land: Land Tenure and Stewardship Reimagined on Friday, 1/28 @ 9am
- Report: Enduring Impact of Racialized Planning in Southern Cities | UNC Greensboro Center for Housing and Community Studies
- Charlotte is still one of the hottest housing markets in the country | WCNC Charlotte
- ICYMI: Hundreds of New Affordable Housing Units Coming to Downtown Durham as Part of Durham Housing Authority’s Three-Site Redevelopment Project | Independent Weekly
- Can You Game Your Way Out of American Housing Injustice? | Bloomberg CityLab + Equality
- So Your City Can’t Implement Inclusionary Zoning Under State Law. Maybe There’s Another Way. | Shelterforce
- Oped: Build Back Better can restore what’s been gutted from US housing | The Hill
- Oped: It Should Take More Than 10 Minutes to Evict Someone | NY Times
