NLIHC joined a letter led by the National Rural Housing Coalition in support of increased appropriations for federal rural housing and water sewer programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The letter outlines the clear need for affordable housing in rural communities and condemns the declining investment in new housing construction.
“In its history, the rural housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have made housing opportunities available to millions of low-income families, financing over 2 million home mortgages and some 500,000 units of affordable rental housing,” the letter states. “However, over the last 20 years, rural housing assistance has slowed to a trickle. Budget cuts and inflation have taken their toll: USDA finances less than 7,000 mortgages annually for low- and very low-income homeowners, does not provide any direct loans for new construction of affordable rental housing, does little in the way of preserving existing rental housing, and annually builds only about 200 units of housing for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.”
More than 60 state and national organizations have signed the letter, which urges congressional appropriations leaders to approve an appropriation for USDA rural housing and water disposal that aligns with that proposed in the USDA FY24 budget proposal.
Read the full letter at: https://bit.ly/3N3z6Gx