NLIHC has produced a Model NHTF Allocation Plan for advocates to consider when engaging their state NHTF entity. NLIHC has also established an advisory group of affordable housing developers who have volunteered to help organizations applying for NHTF money understand how best to overcome the challenges of developing and operating rental housing affordable to extremely low income households.
NLIHC’s Model NHTF Allocation Plan can help advocates shape their state’s NHTF to address the most critical housing needs, ensure rents charged at NHTF homes are truly affordable to extremely low income households, and ensure rents are affordable for as long as possible (at least 30 years, as required by the interim rule, or longer). Advocates wanting to be more involved in influencing their state’s NHTF Allocation Plan can reach out to a lead advocate in their state, identified by NLIHC, who has volunteered to be an allocation plan point person.
The NHTF statute and the interim regulations implementing the statute list the elements that a state’s NHTF Allocation Plan must include. For instance, a state’s NHTF Allocation Plan must describe how the state will distribute its NHTF allocation based on the priority housing needs in the state’s Consolidated Plan. The Allocation Plan must describe the criteria that potential recipients of NHTF money must meet in order to receive NHTF resources. The statute also requires the Allocation Plan to give priority in awarding NHTF dollars to potential developers based on six factors specified in the statute.
Another NHTF resource recently created by NLIHC is an advisory group of nonprofit developers from around the county who have experience and expertise in developing and operating rental housing that extremely low income households can afford. The developers who have volunteered to be on this advisory group have agreed to help organizations understand how best to overcome the challenges of developing and operating rental housing affordable to extremely low-income households. They have agreed to answer questions from nonprofit developers, state housing coalition advocates, and state officials involved in NHTF planning and implementation.
NLIHC’s Model NHTF Allocation Plan is at http://bit.ly/1WqjT0J.
NLIHC’s NHTF point person in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico is at http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/NHTF_State_Advocates.pdf
The names and contact information of the NHTF Developer Advisory Group members is at http://bit.ly/1Sj1uOp.
In addition, NLIHC had made available a number of other NHTF resources, including a detailed Power Point at http://bit.ly/1T7tKD9, a five-part video series explaining the statutory and regulatory requirements at http://bit.ly/1rCr377, and 15 short pieces detailing specific NHTF components and issues at http://bit.ly/1QD543U.