Housing & Development
Home Housing & Development
Joint Employer Bill Would Provide Clarity and Certainty to Small Businesses
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Save Local Business Act, legislation that would boost housing affordability and provide small businesses certainty and predictability by clarifying under law what constitutes a joint employer
NAHB Commends Nomination of Brian Montgomery as FHA Commissioner
Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas, issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s nomination of Brian Montgomery to run the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
Statement on Brian Montgomery Being Nominated to Lead the FHA
David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), made the following statement about President Trump nominating Brian Montgomery to be the next Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Norton Gets Home-Rule Provision Included in Committee-Passed Presidential Pension Bill
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D-DC) home-rule provision to change a 1958 law that treated the District of Columbia government as a part of the federal government, as it was then, was included in a bill passed today by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR).
Department of Energy Awards Grants to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) applauded the Department of Energy’s (DOE) announcement that the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will receive grants to develop new cybersecurity technologies and tools and strengthen grid resilience.
NREL Report Shows Utility-Scale Solar PV System Cost Fell Nearly 30% Last Year
The installed cost of solar power fell to record lows in the first quarter of 2017 because of the continuing decline in photovoltaic (PV) module and inverter prices, higher module efficiency, and lower labor costs, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Washington, DC Wins National Housing Policy Award
The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) was selected as the 2017 winner of the prestigious Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The award recognizes exemplary state and local programs that are using innovative strategies to produce, rehabilitate, or preserve workforce and affordable housing.
HUD ANNOUNCES DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR PUERTO RICO STORM VICTIMS
U.S. Housing and Urban Development today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to Hurricane Irma.
Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development Selected as Winner of the Urban...
Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development has been selected by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winner of the 2017 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award, which is an annual recognition of the innovative ways the public sector is addressing the country’s affordable housing crisis.
Housing Developments in Newark, Boston, and Austin Selected as Winners of The Urban Land...
Newark’s Hahne & Co. Building, Boston’s Mosaic on the Riverway, and Austin’s Wildflower Terrace have been selected by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winners of the 2017 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award. The annual award, which honors developments that ensure housing affordability for people in a broad range of incomes, is provided to developments in which all or a portion of the units are affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Statement from NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald on HUD Suspending FHA Multifamily Mortgage Insurance Applications...
Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas, today issued the following statement regarding the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s decision to halt new FHA multifamily mortgage insurance applications in counties impacted by Hurricane Harvey and designated as Presidentially Declared Disaster areas
Habitat Hammers Back: Habitat for Humanity receives major support for hurricane recovery as leading...
Four organizations will serve as keystone partners of Habitat for Humanity’s response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, each making contributions of $1 million or more to support the Habitat Hammers Back initiative. The gifts from the Dow Chemical Company, General Motors, Thrivent Financial and a group of American wind energy companies will support on-the-ground responses to the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and other affected areas.
Cummings and Jeffries Question HUD on Report of Potential Sale of Starrett City
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued the following statement in response to a report in the New York Times that the owners of the nation’s largest government-subsidized residential property, Starrett City, may be selling the development in a deal that could personally benefit President Trump:
EPA to hold five public meetings in Idaho focusing on IDEQ seeking water quality...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comments on the State of Idaho’s application to assume the role of writing, administering and enforcing water quality discharge permits in the state. Until now, the job of writing wastewater and stormwater discharge permits, performing facility inspections and otherwise enforcing the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (part of the federal Clean Water Act) has been the sole responsibility of federal authorities at EPA.
HPTF Financing Preserves 360 Affordable Housing Units in Three Wards
The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) closed three loan agreements totaling more than $18.9 million that will help preserve 360 affordable housing units in Wards 2, 7 and 8. The funding was made available through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).
Online home furnishings retailer The Mine makes a commitment to Habitat for Humanity ReStores...
Online home furnishings retailer The Mine continues its commitment to Habitat for Humanity for the fourth year through product donations with a retail value of $1 million to Habitat for Humanity ReStore resale outlets.
Norton to House Floor This Evening for Votes to Protect Budget Autonomy and Eliminate...
The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that Norton will speak on the House floor this evening on two of her amendments that were made in order by the House Rules Committee to the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills—her amendment to strike the anti-home-rule rider that repeals the District of Columbia’s budget autonomy referendum and her amendment to prohibit the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) from carrying out the law that requires individuals in halfway houses and on home confinement to pay a subsistence fee to offset the cost of being housed or supervised.
EPA/TCEQ Harvey Update: Air Quality Improving, More Water Systems Operational
Working together, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) continue to coordinate with local, state and federal officials to address the human health and environmental impacts of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, especially the water systems in the affected areas. TCEQ has 500 people assisting in response to this natural disaster and EPA has 185.
Subcommittee Begins Comprehensive Onshore Federal Lands Energy Policy Overhaul with Review of Targeted Reform...
The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources began a comprehensive legislative overhaul of federal onshore energy development with a legislative hearing to review targeted bills that reform the existing federal regulatory framework
Statement from NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald on Immigration Reform
Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas, issued the following statement after the Trump administration announced it would wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has allowed young people known as “Dreamers” who were brought to this country illegally as children to live and work
DHS Statement Regarding Safety and Enforcement During Hurricane Irma
As Hurricane Irma approaches the United States and its territories, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) highest priorities – as they were with Hurricane Harvey – are to promote life-saving and life-sustaining activities, the safe evacuation of people who are leaving the impacted area, the maintenance of public order, the prevention of the loss of property to the extent possible, and the speedy recovery of the region. Anyone in the path of this storm should follow instructions from their local officials and heed any warnings as this dangerous storm approaches
Appraisal Institute Joins 35 Groups Seeking to Halt Appraisal Waivers
The Appraisal Institute, the nations largest professional association of real estate appraisers, on Wednesday joined with nearly three dozen appraiser organizations in asking Congress to call on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to prevent Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from issuing appraisal waivers.
BCER GROUP AND WISH FOR WHEELS PARTNER TO BRING BIKES TO MERCY HOUSING CHILDREN
Thanks to the BCER Group and Wish for Wheels, two Colorado organizations, dozens of children living at Parkside Apartments in Denver, Colorado now have bikes! On August 11, 2017, BCER Engineering, a Colorado-based engineering firm, partnered with Wish for Wheels, a nonprofit that gives bikes to kids from low-income families, to build 25 bikes for the children living at Parkside Apartments, a Mercy Housing community in Denver, Colorado.
Norton Amendments to Prevent States from Racially Profiling and to Increase Section 8 Housing...
The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the House Rules Committee is scheduled to consider amendments to the fiscal year 2018 Transportation, Housing And Urban Development Appropriations bill, including her amendments to prohibit states that receive federal transportation funding from engaging in unconstitutional profiling based on physical characteristics and another to increase funding for Section 8 tenant-based vouchers by 1 percent, or $187 million, today, Tuesday, September 5, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. in H-312 (U.S. Capitol).
STATEMENT ON LABOR DAY BY U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR ALEXANDER ACOSTA
U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta released the following statement to commemorate Labor Day:
“Labor Day is the one day a year that we set aside to honor the men and women who work every day to make this nation great. At the Department of Labor, we have the great privilege of engaging with the greatest workforce in the world, the American workforce
Mayor Bowser Launches DC Infrastructure Academy
Mayor Bowser signed a memorandum of intent to formally launch the DC Infrastructure Academy, a partnership between DC Government and utility, union, university, and private sector partners that will create a pipeline to in-demand infrastructure jobs for District residents
HUD REPORT FINDS PEOPLE LIVING WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES FACE SIGNIFICANT RENTAL HOUSING DISCRIMINATION
Persons living with mental illness, intellectual or other developmental disabilities continue to face significant housing discrimination in the rental housing market, according to a new pilot study released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Survivor Housing a Priority for the Federal and State Recovery Effort after Hurricane Harvey
The federal government continues to focus on the lives and safety of those affected by Hurricane Harvey. While the coordinated response continues, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal, state, local, and tribal partners, are beginning to direct efforts toward recovery, including housing survivors displaced by the disaster through the state-led disaster housing task force.
Status of Water Systems in Areas Affected by Harvey
Working together, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) continue to coordinate with local, state and federal officials to address the human health and environmental impacts of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, especially the water systems in the affected areas. As of Saturday, September 2nd, 2017, the following information is available
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ADDS 28,000 JOBS IN AUGUST AFTER SPENDING DROP IN JULY, BUT CONTRACTORS...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) release the following statement today, in regards to the water quality of flood-impacted areas from Hurricane Harvey
