By Cindy Vosper Chetti, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, NMHC
On Wednesday, NMHC and NAA submitted testimony for an April 26 Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing entitled “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges.” This hearing builds upon previous Senate Finance hearings – like the hearing NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno testified at earlier this year – and serves as a step forward for potential bipartisan efforts on housing to come.
Testifying before the committee were Lou Tisler, Executive Director, National NeighborWorks Association; Vanessa Brown Calder, Director of Opportunity and Family Policy Studies, Cato Institute; and Diane Yentel, President and CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition.
A wide range of housing industry issues were covered such as zoning and land use regulation, limiting regulation, increasing housing supply, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and flood insurance, many of which the witnesses and members of congress expressed their support. Ranking Member Scott (R-SC) discussed his newly proposed bill, the Road to Housing Act, which aims to increase the amount of financial literacy and housing counseling available to families, and seeks to reform housing programs and make them more accountable. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) said during the hearing, “I think that I hear, Mr. Chair, that there is significant amounts of bipartisan agreement on how we might approach this and a clear understanding that we have a supply problem.&
Making the Most of the Moment
Our nation has long suffered a housing affordability crisis. Fueled by a critical supply-demand imbalance, we will need to build 4.3 million new apartments by 2035 to meet future demand and make up for current shortages that are worsening affordability. As if that challenge wasn’t insurmountable on its own, our country is now reckoning with growing economic uncertainty.
We cannot wait to act on easing housing affordability constraints. Our economy and our nation’s 40 million apartment renters are at stake. That’s why NMHC is pleased to see the Senate Banking Committee is seeking to work in a bipartisan manner on this important issue.
There’s No “Silver Bullet” Solution
NMHC weighed in with the Committee prior to the hearing and will continue to weigh in as their work progresses. Chief among our message to Congress is there’s no one-size-fits-all approach or “silver bullet” solution. The scale of this challenge calls for solutions on a comparable scale. In addition to increased supply for all types of housing, we must also deliver short-term solutions to renter populations that need support. Here are a few solutions we’re proposing:
- Reduce barriers to housing production and rehabilitation;
- Streamline and fast track the entitlement and approval process;
- Provide density bonuses and other incentives for developers to include workforce units in their properties;
- Enable “by-right” zoning and create more fully entitled parcels;
- Defer taxes and other fees for a set period of time;
- Lower construction costs by contributing underutilized buildings and raw land;
- Encourage higher density development near jobs and transportation;
- Avoid “quick fix” regulations such as rent control or similar rent stabilization laws that do nothing to address the underlying supply shortage;
- Expand and enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC);
- Enact the Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit to support workforce housing;
- Enhance Opportunity Zones to incentivize the rehabilitation and preservation of multifamily buildings;
- Encourage the adaptive reuse of underutilized commercial properties into multifamily housing;
- Promote the rehabilitation of multifamily housing located near transit;
- Deploy the housing supply action plan and key housing provisions from the Biden FY24 Budget;
- Reform and fully fund the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; and
- Sustain funding for federal housing support and affordability programs.
Read our detailed recommendations here.
… But There’s Plenty Already Out There We Support
With housing affordability now a “kitchen table” issue, Congress has certainly made strides to propose workable solutions that would chip away at the challenge. Although the prospect for passage into law varies from proposal to proposal, here’s what we’re currently tracking:
Choice in Affordable Housing Act
NMHC’s Viewpoint: We are supportive of this legislation and lead an industry coalition to garner further support.
Background: This bill would authorize funds to support initiatives to increase landlord participation in the housing choice voucher (HCV) program, including one-time incentive payments for landlords, payments to public housing authorities (PHAs) for landlord outreach and liaison activities, security deposit assistance, and other activities to recruit and retain landlords in low-poverty areas. It also directs HUD to increase the number of PHAs required to use Small Area Fair Market Rents (zip-code level rent estimates set by HUD) when setting subsidy standards in the HCV program. Additionally, the bill would:
- Streamline current physical inspection requirements for voucher- assisted units in other federally-assisted properties;
- Require HUD to explore ways to modify its PHA assessment system to consider landlord relations and voucher location patterns; and
- Authorize appropriations for the Tribal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (Tribal HUD-VASH) program through FY 2028.
Lead Safe Housing for Kids Act
NMHC’s Viewpoint: Although introduced in the previous Congress, NMHC remains interested in certain provisions within this legislation.
Background: This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to issue regulations regarding lead-based paint in certain federally assisted housing that was constructed prior to 1978 and in which a child younger than age six will reside. Specifically, HUD must require owners of such housing to (1) conduct, within specified time frames, risk assessment for lead- based paint hazards; (2) control the hazards; and (3) provide certain notice to residents. If a family with a child younger than age six occupies such housing in which lead-based paint hazards are identified but not controlled, HUD must allow the family to relocate on an emergency basis to another dwelling without any wait, penalty, or lapse in assistance.
National Land Bank Network Act
NMHC’s Viewpoint: Although only in the discussion draft stage, NMHC remains interested in certain provisions within this proposal.
Background: This bill establishes a grant program administered through the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to create and maintain a National Land Bank Network to share best practices in land banking and to award funds to develop or support existing land banks across the country.
Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act
NMHC’s Viewpoint: Although only in the discussion draft stage, NMHC remains interested in certain provisions within this proposal.
Background: This bill would:
- Update housing counseling requirements by requiring pre-purchase counseling and counseling if a borrower is in default for borrowers with government-insured or -guaranteed loans, requiring that a portion of HUD housing counseling grants be set aside for pre-foreclosure and rental counseling, prohibiting housing counseling agencies applying for or receiving HUD grants from engaging in lobbying or advocacy, and requiring suspension of housing counselors whose clients experience a higher than average default rate compared to borrowers in the area until the counselor is recertified;
- Eliminate the cap on the number of units that can be converted from public housing to other forms of federal assistance under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program;
- Direct the CFPB to allow for mortgage loan originators that only serve borrowers seeking loans of up to $70,000 to be salaried;
- Direct the CFPB to update mortgage points and fees limitations to encourage additional lending to borrowers seeking loans of up to $70,000;
- Directs HUD to reinstate the solicitation for applications from Public Housing Authorities volunteering to study work requirements for HUD- assisted housing residents as part of the Moving to Work (MTW) program;
- Authorizes the MTW demonstration and requires an evaluation of reforms undertaken by MTW participants;
- Updates the definition of manufactured home by removing the requirement that homes are built on a permanent chassis;
- Authorizes HUD to pay-for-success with a 10 percent set-aside of Continuum of Care and Emergency Solutions Grant homelessness funds for grantees that can measurably improve outcomes for individuals served by those programs;
- Requires HUD to prioritize HUD grants to recipients located in or primarily serving communities designated as Opportunity Zones;
- Requires annual testimony by the Secretary of HUD, the President of Ginnie Mae, the FHA Commissioner, and the Administrator of the Rural Housing Service;
- Requires monthly reporting to Congress on the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF);
- Revises the first-time homebuyer definition to be any borrower whose credit report does not include a tradeline indicating that the borrower has previously had a loan for a single-family property;
- Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study and recommend whether FHA should set parameters and define sustainable homeownership; and
- Requires annual testimony from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, as well as submission of an annual report, describing how it is executing its statutorily required National Strategic Plan to end homelessness.
FHA Multifamily Loan Limits
Although only in the discussion draft stage, NMHC is supportive of the proposal and plans to participate in coalition efforts to increase support.
Background: This bill would update the per-unit dollar amounts for FHA multifamily loans specified in statute and provide for an alternate inflation index that better reflects the costs of residential construction.
Local Housing Innovation Grants
NMHC’s Viewpoint: Although only in the discussion draft stage, NMHC remains interested in certain provisions within this proposal.
Background: This bill would authorize a grant program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to states and units of general local government that reform land use restrictions to bring down the cost of producing affordable housing and remove unnecessary barriers to building affordable housing units.
Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act
NMHC’s Viewpoint: Although only in the discussion draft stage, NMHC remains interested in certain provisions within this proposal.
Background: This bill would authorize funding for 250,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers—50,000 per year for five years—for families of young children who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, living in areas of concentrated poverty, or at risk of displacement from an area of opportunity. These new vouchers, which would be awarded competitively, would include services to support family moves to high opportunity areas with high-performing schools.
About Cindy Vosper Chetti
Cindy Vosper Chetti is Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, with responsibility for implementing strategy for all legislative and regulatory issues of interest to the National Multifamily Housing Council and National Apartment Association Joint Legislative Program. For the previous 10 years, Chetti was the lead housing policy expert for the House Financial Services Committee, working as a member of the Senior Professional Staff for the Committee’s Republicans. Prior to that, she served six years with the House Financial Services Committee's Financial Services and Consumer Credit subcommittee.
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