Housing Call: August 1, 2023 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

Federal Updates

Senate Committee Approves Spending Bill. The Senate appropriations committee unanimously approved their version of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) spending bill last week. Their version of the bill provides $1.86B in additional funding for housing than the House version. Most notably, it would appropriate $1.5B for the HOME Program, which the House bill seeks to drastically reduce to $500M. Check out the updated NLIHC budget chart here and Novogradac’s analysis and chart here. Once Congress returns from recess in September, they will have until September 30 to either reach an agreement on the budget or pass a continuing resolution, or else face a shutdown.

AHCIA Bill Receives Record Levels of Support. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023 House Bill is on track to receive record levels of support. Just 11 weeks after being reintroduced, the bill has reached 151 bipartisan co-sponsors – 75 Republicans and 76 Democrats. For comparison, 11 weeks after introduction in the previous congress, previous AHCIA legislation only had 64 co-sponsors. The House version of AHCIA is now the most cosponsored of all bipartisan tax bills introduced to-date in this Congress. Four of NC’s 7 Republican House members are already official co-sponsors and a number of Democrats, including NC congresswoman Valerie Foushee, are queued up to be added to the bill as additional Republicans sign on. Companion legislation in the Senate has a total of 28 sponsors. We’re thrilled that both Sens. Tillis and Budd have signed on as cosponsors; this is the first time that we have seen this level of bipartisan support from NC legislators for the AHCIA and it represents years of advocacy efforts. Thanks to all who have made calls to your members of Congress and advocated alongside us to make this happen.

White House announces steps to protect renters, increase housing supply, and eliminate junk fees in rental housing. The White House launched a program last week that is designed to address land use and zoning barriers that limit affordable housing supply. In coordination with this effort, HUD announced $85M in grants for local housing production and preservation that are available through the newly created Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO) program.

The White House also recently announced steps to increase transparently in rental fees and steps to support renters. Specifically, Zillow, Apartments.com, and affordablehousing.com have all committed to displaying the total cost of renting a unit, including extraneous fees. Zillow will also offer a universal application, which will allow renters to pay one fee and apply to multiple units within a 30-day period. For more information, check out HUD’s policy brief on junk fees here and the White House announcement here.

VITAL Act Introduced to address the need for accessible, affordable housing for older adults and people with disabilities. Democratic senators introduced a bill last week that would increase investment in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and ensure that developers are building more accessible housing units that are designed for older adults and people with disabilities. Research shows that just 6% of housing nationwide is accessible to people with mobility challenges, and only 20% of such housing is occupied by people with mobility challenges.

State Legislative Updates

State budget talks move forward. Although state legislators in Raleigh are taking a break until August 7 key leaders are still in Raleigh working on the budget. Sen. Berger announced late last week that the House and Senate have come to a consensus on a tax package and some other big picture parts of the budget. They will be negotiating other aspects of the budget in the coming days and Berger says he expects to have a budget passed in the coming weeks.

See our bill tracker. In the meantime, check out our bill tracker here and our gallery of bills that survived crossover here. Reach out to us if you have any questions.

Local Community Updates

New group aims for affordable housing | Local News | thetimesnews.com | The Burlington Community Land Trust recently announced its first corporate donation from Pinnacle Financial Partners. In keeping with the land trust model, the organization will retain ownership of the land, which allows them to control the sale price of the house and ensure that it remains affordable for future generations of income-qualified homebuyers. The Burlington Community Land Trust arose out of a partnership between the Morrowtown Community Group, Sustainable Alamance, Elon University, and several local churches.

In recent years, NC has seen a number of CLTs form. Earlier this spring, Greensboro began a community conversation around CLTs and in June the Raleigh Area Land Trust sold their first home.

Raleigh hopes to develop plots on future transit corridor into affordable housing and mixed use | The City of Raleigh is moving ahead with plans to build a mixed-use development with affordable housing, healthcare offices, and a daycare on New Bern Avenue. The development will be sited alongside a future Bus Rapid Transit corridor. The City hopes that this project can be a model for other cities like Cary and Garner that have developable land along proposed Bus Rapid Transit corridors.

Reports & Resources

[report] Continuing Emergency Rental Assistance: How Jurisdictions Are Building on Treasury’s ERA Program | NLIHC
[journal article – summary] Subsidized Renters Are Significantly Less Prepared for Disasters Compared to Unsubsidized Renters | NLIHC
[journal article] The Effect of Community Organizing on Landlords’ Use of Eviction Filing: Evidence from US Cities | Social Problems (academic journal)
[co-authored by Michael Stegman] Three steps the FHFA can take to create a more equitable housing finance system | Urban Institute

Events

[in person- public workshop] City of Asheville Missing Middle Housing Workshop, 8/4 4-7 p.m. Harrah’s Cherokee Center Banquet Hall
[webinar] Making Connections – Budget Landscape & Protecting Our State Budget | NC Budget & Tax Center, 8/9, 12-1 p.m.
[rescheduled webinar] Housing First | NLIHC, National Alliance to End Homelessness, and Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, 8/14, 2:30-4 p.m.
Durham Bulls Baseball Game | NC Womens’ Affordable Housing Network, 8/16, 6:30 p.m.
- You can RSVP here until August 5th or when they sell out of tickets; whichever comes sooner. Email the NCWAHN team at ncwahn@gmail.com if you have any questions!