National Housing Trust Fund
Program Summary and Purpose
The National Housing Trust Fund is a federal fund created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008. The stated goal of the fund is to build, preserve, or rehabilitate 1.5 million units of affordable housing by 2018. Despite this, no money has been properly allocated to the NHTF.
Money from the fund is to be distributed to each state based on each state’s level of need. Each state would make its own decisions about how to use money it receives from the NHTF. NHTF dollars must target very low income (VLI) or extremely low income (ELI) individuals. Very low income individuals are defined as persons with incomes at or below 50% of an area’s median income (AMI) and extremely low income (ELI) individuals are persons with incomes at or below 30% of an area’s median income. 90% or more of each state’s trust fund allocation would have to be spent on production, preservation, rehabilitation, or operation of affordable rental housing. The remaining 10% would be spent on providing resources to low income homeowners. The fund is the first new program to target extremely low income households since the creation of the Section-8 program in 1974.
Current Status
The continued existence of important programs like the NHTF is currently under threat. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) of the House Committee on Financial Services has introduced legislation that would abolish the NHTF, along with the Capitol Management Fund. A hearing was held on May 25th, 2011 to discuss Representative Royce’s bill and six similar pieces of legislation designed to dismantle Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO Sheila Crowley testified in support of the NHTF. The NHTF campaign issued a “Call to Action” on May 19th for people who live or work in districts represented by members of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises to call their Representatives to object to Rep. Royce’s bill.
What Advocates Need to Know
The shortage of affordable housing in the United States is a serious problem that deserves the attention of policymakers. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was passed with bipartisan support and the National Housing Trust Fund has the support of federal housing policy advocates. Despite this, and the dire need for sustainable affordable housing, legislators have put their efforts into eliminating the NHTF, rather than reap its benefits. Once properly funded, the trust fund will not only increase the supply of affordable housing in the market by 1.5 million units in the next 10 years, it will also create approximately 15,000 construction jobs and 3,800 new permanent jobs. Advocates should contact their federal legislators and ask them to support a budget that includes the capitalization and funding of the National Housing Trust Fund.
For More Information:
National Low Income Housing Coalition. 202-662-1530.
National Housing Trust Fund Campaign. 202-662-1530.
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