Biden administration announces new efforts to boost the nation’s housing supply

The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it is extending a federal housing financing program that was set to expire in September. The move, according to the Federal Housing Administration, will allow states and localities to build or preserve 38,000 affordable rental homes over the next decade.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies praised the decision to continue the Housing Finance Agency Risk-Sharing Initiative “at a time when affordable housing is scarce for so many people who need it so much,” the group said. The program “is an important and effective way of helping to build and maintain apartments for low- and moderate-income families.”

“We know that the supply of affordable rental homes has not kept pace with the increase in demand,” the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman told reporters, adding that extending the program will continue allowing the department to work with state and local housing finance agencies.

Under the initiative, state and local housing finance agencies have received $2 billion in financing since 2021 to build or rehabilitate nearly 12,000 affordable rental homes for low-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities. 

Among the projects it has helped finance, according to the state housing agencies, was the construction of a 103-unit mixed-income development in Denver and 306 affordable and market-rate units in Milpitas, California.

The decision is among a number of moves the administration announced on Thursday, including the intention to propose new rules to make the HOME Investment Partnerships Program “easier to use.” HOME provides grants to state and local governments to create affordable housing for low-income households. It is the largest such federal block grant program, having provided states and localities more than $4 billion over the last four years to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying and rehabilitating affordable housing, either to be rented or sold.

HUD has not yet revealed the details but said it is proposing in the next few weeks a rule that would “streamline” requirements for states and localities to administer the grants, as well as for community organizations building new homes.

The proposed rule would also update a number of other requirements including allowable rents and tenant protection for housing projects receiving the grants.

Todman said the proposed changes would allow state and local agencies to use “these funds with the urgency this moment requires.”