NLIHC published Getting Started: First Homes Being Built with 2016 National Housing Trust Fund Awards on Wednesday, September 12. This interim report profiles how 42 states, so far, have awarded their inaugural 2016 national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) allocations. Eight states and the District of Columbia anticipate making their awards by December 2018.
States are using most of their HTF resource for projects that will serve people experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, elderly people, and other special needs populations. At the time of publication, 129 projects have been awarded 2016 HTF money, with about 1,500 HTF-assisted units anticipated to be constructed or rehabilitated.
The HTF, a block grant to states, is the first federal resource since 1974 for building, rehabilitating, or preserving homes targeted to extremely low income (ELI) households, those with income at or less than 30% of the area median income or less than the federal poverty line. The HTF is funded through a dedicated source, a small assessment on the volume of new business for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Beginning in 2000, NLIHC led a national campaign to create and fund the HTF. In 2016, the first $174 million in HTF funding was allocated to states. It was followed by more than $219 million allocated for 2017 and nearly $267 million for 2018. NLIHC works to ensure that the funding is used effectively to create decent and affordable homes for the more than 11 million ELI renter households that need this assistance the most.
The full report is at: http://nlihc.org/issues/nhtf