LIHTC Provisions Added to Build Back Better Act

 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE

LIHTC Provisions Added to Build Back Better Act

An increase in the 9% cap and reducing the bond test are included in the House plan.  By Donna Kimura  Key low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) provisions were added to the House version of the Build Back Better (BBB) plan in early November after they were left out of the White House’s initial framework. The latest House package calls for increasing the 9% LIHTC allocation cap by 10% plus inflation each year from 2022 to 2024 when it will have risen to $3.97 per capita or a small state minimum of about $4.58 million. In 2025, the housing credit volume cap would fall back to $2.65 per capita or a small state minimum of $3.12 million. Among other key LIHTC provisions, the House manager’s amendment includes reducing the 50% bond financing test to 25% for five years. Many advocates were originally expecting that this change would be for four years, but they received an extra year with the bond test reduction proposed through 2026. David Gasson Supporters had been emphasizing the significance of this change especially in helping redevelop aging public housing through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, says David Gasson, partner at MG Housing Strategies and executive director of the Housing Advisory Group. While the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are vital, the housing credit is the piece that enables new construction, he says. There was some early hope for a quick vote on the bill, but it now appears that the House may wait for a Congressional Budget Office report on the cost of the plan before voting. That will likely lead to further negotiations about the overall size of the bill. “I’m hopeful they will get it out of the House by Thanksgiving,” Gasson says. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has indicated that she intends for a vote during the week of Nov. 15, according to a Reuters report. Housing advocates also point out that the Senate version of BBB will surely be different. The timing on the Senate side is also difficult to predict. “The wheels have to fall off and come back on several times before things like this get passed,” says Bob Moss, partner at MG Housing Strategies. Bob Moss At this time, the good news is that many of the big LIHTC provisions that the affordable housing industry has been seeking for years are in the House bill. The House package also calls for a permanent 50% basis boost for developments serving extremely low-income (ELI) households, with an 8% minimum set-aside for ELI properties and a 30% basis boost for properties on tribal lands. It would also make modifications related to the right of first refusal. “The proposals to increase housing credit production included in the House’s newest version of the Build Back Better legislation would yield the most significant expansion of the housing credit ever,” says Emily Cadik, executive director of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. Emily Cadik The addition of these provisions back into BBB after they were excluded from the previous version was thanks to support from House and Senate leadership and White House negotiators as well as advocacy from the affordable housing community and program champions in Congress, according to Cadik. “While the inclusion of these proposals points to a recognition that the housing credit is a critical part of the effort to address our nation’s affordable housing shortage, we cannot take anything for granted,” she says . .    Read More

_

 

Toyota Reveals Solid-State Battery Prototype Car

ADOT and FHWA publish Interstate 11 Record of Decision. . .This designation did not include funding for design and construction.

ADOT and FHWA publish Interstate 11 Record of Decision

Document marks completion of Tier 1 study to determine proposed new highway corridor between Nogales and Wickenburg      The Record of Decision and Final Preliminary Section 4(f) Evaluation for the 280-mile Interstate 11 study corridor – stretching from Nogales to Wickenburg – has been completed and published. After more than five years of study, technical analysis and input from communities and stakeholders, the publication of this decision document marks a major milestone as the final step in the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement process for this proposed highway corridor. The signed Record of Decision, approved by the Federal Highway Administration, is available at i11study.com/Arizona. The Record of Decision was prepared by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the FHWA, and was completed in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. This decision document identifies the Selected Corridor Alternative, which is a Build Alternative. The Selected Corridor Alternative is a combination of new and existing roadways. The Selected Corridor Alternative is the same as the Preferred Corridor Alternative outlined in the Final Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement published on July 16, 2021. The 2,000-foot-wide Selected Corridor Alternative is the area within which the proposed I-11 facility could be built. > For I-11 to advance as a construction project, several additional steps would be required. These steps would include NEPA approval, identifying funding, and conducting specific, project-level Tier 2 NEPA studies of priority corridor segments. It is during the Tier 2 process that the Selected Corridor Alternative would be narrowed to a maximum 400-foot-wide highway alignment, or route. Based on need and purpose, these segments would focus on smaller and shorter sections of I-11 and not the entire 280-mile corridor. Currently there are no plans or funding available to initiate these Tier 2 studies. The I-11 Tier 1 environmental study began in 2016. > All study documents and public outreach materials are available at i11study.com/Arizona, including an Interactive EIS that was published in addition to the Final Tier 1 EIS in July 2021. > Formal public comment periods were held in 2016, 2017 and 2019, with a 30-day public review period for the Final Tier 1 EIS from July 16 through August 16, 2021. A total of 18 public meetings and hearings were held throughout the five-year study process to inform community members about the study, engage with them and listen to their feedback, and document their questions and comments for the public record. The Tier 1 study includes more than five years of technical analysis; coordination with study partners such as cooperating agencies, participating agencies and tribal governments; and the review and consideration of public input received at study milestones. All of this information informed the decision identifying the Selected Corridor Alternative documented in the Record of Decision. The proposed I-11 is envisioned as a multi-use corridor that would improve Arizona’s access to regional and international markets while opening up new opportunities for enhanced travel, mobility, trade, commerce, job growth and economic competitiveness. The concept of a high-capacity, high-priority north-south transportation facility that connects U.S. markets to Canada and Mexico through the western U.S. has been considered for more than 25 years. In 2015, the U.S. Congress approved the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which formally designated I-11 as an interstate highway through Arizona and reinforced the concept for I-11 that had emerged from previous ADOT studies. This designation did not include funding for design and construction. For more information about I-11 and the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement, visit i11study.com/Arizona.

Visit the I-11 Study website at I-11Study.com/Arizona  for more information.

NAHB CEO Sees Best of Times, Worst of Times for Housing

From Chris Salviati @ Apartment List: 21.4% of Phoenix apartment hunters are looking to move away

Thanks to Chris for sending!

Hi Tim,

Apartment List just published our quarterly renter migration report, shedding new light on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting moving trends. This interactive mapping tool analyzes proprietary data from millions of user searches spanning July through September to determine where Americans are looking to make their next move. Nearly 40% of users searching on our platform in Q3 were looking to move to a new metro, well above pre-pandemic benchmarks. 

 

Key insights from the report include:

• 21.4% of apartment hunters currently living in Phoenix are looking to move elsewhere. Tucson is the most popular destination among these renters.
• 29.1% of those looking for a place to live in Phoenix are searching from outside the metro. The most common source of renters looking to move to Phoenix from elsewhere is Los Angeles.
• For context, nearly 40% of apartment hunters nationwide are searching for somewhere to live outside of their current metro.

 

Check out the full report here for more detailed data and to explore trends for major metro areas around the country.

If this is something you would be interested in covering, I’d be happy to answer any questions or schedule an interview with one of the report’s authors! 

Best,

Chris

CHRIS SALVIATI

Housing Economist

Apartment List

978.551.0600

salviati@apartmentlist.com

 

Post-COP26: Turning Net Zero Commitments into Action

Two-Speed Global Recovery: the Dangers of a Widening Rich-Poor Gap