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National Housing Trust Fund

NETWORK has a long history of support for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF), which would provide a reliable source of funding for construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of (mostly) rental units for very-low and extremely low-income households. 

Very low-income households earn at or below 50% of the area median income (AMI), while extremely low-income households earn at or below 30% of the AMI. There are only 37 affordable housing units for every 100 households at the extremely low-income level. And many people that can be classified as extremely low-income face grossly inadequate housing situations. The NHTF will help narrow that gap between supply and need and provide homes for those who are most in need.

Through the use of public-private partnerships, the NHTF will create an estimated 17,000 jobs for workers across skill levels per $1 billion spent, and the bill mandates the use of “green” technologies and materials. The initial authorization identified the Gulf Coast region as the recipient of the first year of projects, meant to compensate for some of the housing lost to major hurricanes in 2005 and 2006.

For more information on the NHTF, see www.nhtf.org.

For information on state housing trust funds, see http://www.communitychange.org/our-projects/htf

History

The National Housing Trust Fund was authorized in July 2008, with the passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. The law included a funding source for the NHTF—a portion of profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. However, with the collapse of the housing bubble, and the resulting government bailout, that funding source disappeared.

Current Status

NETWORK is working to find other sources of funding for the NHTF. Initially, the goal is to find $1.065 billion to get the fund going. A permanent funding source needs to be found as well.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would oversee the NHTF. They’re in the final stages of their preparations for the implementation of the fund; all that is needed now is funding.