Bipartisan Housing Bills Introduced in Congress

The House and Senate have introduced identical bipartisan bills supported by NAHB that will improve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and allow builders to increase production of badly needed affordable housing.

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act was introduced in the Senate (S. 1557) by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

The House bill was introduced by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.). The House version of the legislation (H.R. 3238) has more than 60 bipartisan original co-sponsors.

“NAHB commends the House and Senate for introducing bipartisan legislation that addresses the need to boost housing production to ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis,” said NAHB Chairman Alicia Huey. “The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act will finance more than 2 million additional multifamily units over the next decade. And with nearly 11 million renter households severely cost-burdened, there is now more reason than ever to enact this legislation.”

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would:

• Increase 9% credit allocations, which are generally reserved for new construction, by 50%.
• Prohibit states from requiring special approvals that treat affordable rental housing differently from any other multifamily project.
• Provide a 30% basis boost for properties in rural and Native American areas.
• Lower the 50% “financed by” threshold to 25% for private activity bonds to enable more bond deals. Private activity bonds are tax-exempt bonds issued on behalf of a state or local government to provide special financing benefits for qualified projects.

NAHB strongly supports this bill and will urge Congress to move quickly to pass this legislation.