NLIHC

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) FY16 spending bill this morning in a vote of 20 to10. Four Democrats—Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Brian Schatz (D-HI)—voted with all 16 Committee Republicans in support of the bill

The State of the Nation’s Housing 2015 report, released today, continues to show that the lowest income households in America struggle to finds homes they can afford. The report, issued by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, documents that homeownership rates were at a 20-year low in 2014, resulting in record growth in demand for rental homes, soaring rents, and record numbers of cost-burdened renters.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) marked up its FY16 spending bill on June 23. While not all of the details of the bill have been released, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is aware that the bill severely cuts the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), underfunds other important affordable housing programs, and contains provisions that threaten the wellbeing of low income individuals and families

This week the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economonic Analysis (BEA) released its “Personal Income and Outlays” report for March, 2015, which showed that the price index for personal consumption expenditures rose by just 0.3% from one year earlier (1.3% when food and energy are excluded).  What is striking about this extremely low inflation rate is that the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that rents were up 3.5% in March from a year before

The proposed FY16 appropriations bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies released today by the House Appropriations Committee would do serious damage to federal housing programs that aid some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in the nation and would zero out the only new funding targeted to expand rental housing that is affordable for these families

On April 16, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held a hearing on “The Future of Housing in America: Increasing Private Sector Participation in Affordable Housing”. The hearing focused broadly on HUD programs that have the potential to leverage private dollars and featured four witnesses: Adriane Todman, Executive Director at the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA); Brad Fennell, Senior Vice President of Washington, DC area property management company WC Smith; James Evans, Director at Quadel Consulting Services; and Sheila Crowley, President and CEO at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)

National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) President and CEO Sheila Crowley testified today before the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance of the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing titled, “The Future of Housing in America: Increasing Private Sector Participation in Affordable Housing.”

The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) are pleased to announce the release of Creating New Integrated Permanent Supportive Housing Opportunities for ELI Households: A Vision for the Future of the National Housing Trust Fund. This report highlights important innovations in affordable housing financing policy designed to benefit Extremely Low Income (ELI) households, including people with significant and long term disabilities who need Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).

The National Low Income Housing Coalition and the United for Homes Campaign applaud Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) for his Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2015, H.R. 1662, which he introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today

The National Housing Law Project (NHLP), the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP), and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) applaud Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) for introducing legislation to permanently extend the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA).

A new report shows that the lowest income households in the U.S. are struggling to find affordable rental housing in every state across the country, as well as in the 50 most populous metropolitan areas. This situation is not likely to improve in the coming year because rental vacancy rates are at historic lows, and the bulk of new multifamily units are only affordable to middle or high income households.

At the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) Annual Housing Leadership Reception on March 3, NLIHC honored Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director and former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan with the Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award. NLIHC also honored former Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner and current NLIHC Board Member Dr. William Apgar with the Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 3, 2015 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, presented their annual Media, State and Local Organizing, and Resident Organizing awards yesterday as part of their 2015 Housing Legislative Forum.

Washington, DC - February 18, 2015 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, NLIHC joined NDD United and more than 2,100 organizations, more than 800 of which are from the housing and community development sector, to urge Congress and President Obama to work together to end sequestration. The letter emphasizes (1) the importance of nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 22, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- A report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) highlights research findings on the extent to which existing federal rental housing production programs serve the lowest income households. NLIHC found that properties funded through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program rarely serve extremely low income (ELI) households, those with incomes at or below 30% of area median income (AMI) without relying on Housing Choice Vouchers (vouchers).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 11, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressional appropriators released a proposed $1.01 trillion spending bill the evening of December 9 that will fund most of the federal government through September 2015. The legislation provides full year funding for 11 of the 12 appropriations bills Congress is required to pass each year, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill. Congress is expected to approve the bill and send it to the President to sign in the coming days.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 13, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- While we are disappointed in Judge Marcia G. Cooke’s ruling on Monday on our lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require the agency to lift its suspension on funding for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF), we will continue our advocacy for the affordable housing that the NHTF would provide. The need for this housing has never been more urgent. Consistent with statutory provisions, FHFA, through its Director Mel Watt, should lift the suspension and direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide funding for the NHTF now

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 25, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- There are more renters today than in previous decades, but there are not enough units renting at affordable prices to meet the needs of the lowest income households. According to Housing Spotlight: The Affordable Rental Housing Gap Persists, released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), there is a deficit of 7.1 million rental units affordable and available to extremely low income households, those with income at or below 30% of area median income. Nationwide, there are only 31 affordable and available units for every 100 extremely low income renters. Extremely low income renters make up 25% of the total renter population, but just 7% of all rental units were affordable and available to this population. This report is based on 2012 data, the latest available

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, 33 national organizations and 163 state and local organizations send a letter to six U.S. Senators on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee urging them to keep working on the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2014, the “Johnson-Crapo” bill, to get the bill to the point that they can support it and thus provide the $3.75 billion a year through the National Housing Trust Fund to address the acute shortage of affordable rental housing for the lowest income Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Next Tuesday, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will consider housing finance reform legislation that has the potential to benefit millions of extremely low income Americans who are at the greatest risk of being or becoming homeless. The draft Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2014, commonly referred to as the “Johnson-Crapo” bill, would provide an estimated $3.75 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund each year. NLIHC urges the Committee to preserve the funding provided for the National Housing Trust Fund as the bill moves forward