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Home > Policy Advocacy > Federally Subsidized Affordable Housing >NHT Welcomes Preservation Legislation

National Housing Trust Welcomes Legislation to Preserve Affordable Housing

Proposed Legislation Safeguards Affordable Rental Homes as Affordability Challenges Grow

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 19, 2010-The National Housing Trust welcomes the introduction of legislation by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) to preserve affordable rental housing. H.R. 4868, the Housing Preservation and Tenant Protection Act, was formally introduced this week after careful consultation with affordable housing advocates and industry leaders.
 
"Preserving affordable housing is cost effective, environmentally responsible, and is the logical first step in solving our nation's housing dilemma," noted Michael Bodaken, president of the National Housing Trust.

"One-third of our nation's families and seniors depend on quality rental housing," Bodaken said.  "Federally assisted rental housing is a unique housing resource because it provides homes affordable to those with worst case housing needs at a time when housing affordability challenges are growing worse. This preservation bill safeguards affordable apartments that are home to more than one million extremely low income families, elderly and disabled persons."

The Trust has testified before Congress on the need for comprehensive policy reform to support responsible long-term affordable rental housing ownership, encourage and streamline sales and transfers of at-risk affordable rental properties to qualified preservation owners, and provide support to existing families and seniors who wish to remain in their homes if affordability requirements end. H.R. 4868 includes many policy recommendations made to Congress by the National Housing Trust and the National Preservation Working Group, a coalition of nonprofit organizations supporting affordable rental housing.

Bodaken also noted that pressure on rental housing prices continues in light of the current foreclosure crisis.

"As foreclosures on homes and apartment buildings continue to unfold, a growing number of renters are competing for a limited supply of affordable housing," Bodaken explained. "Many of these families will be seeking apartments at the lower end of the of the cost spectrum, where there is already a shortage of affordable rental housing for the poorest households. We welcome the introduction of this important legislation and urge its enactment by Congress."
 
HOUSING PRESERVATION AND TENANT PROTECTION ACT OF 2010 (H.R. 4868)

Provide Resources and Incentives to Prevent the Further Loss of Affordable Housing Units
  • Provides grants and loans to for-profit and non-profit housing sponsors to help recapitalize and/or transfer the property to a preservation purchaser.
  •  Establishes a voluntary Preservation Exchange Program to encourage owners to sell properties to purchasers who will keep the housing affordable.
  • Establishes a federal first right of refusal that provides HUD with an opportunity to purchase a property from an owner who wishes to sell their property.  Significantly, the bill does not require an owner to sell their property or prevent them from obtaining fair market value.
  • Allows owners to request project-based assistance in lieu of enhanced vouchers, which serves to help preserve the long-term affordability of the project, assist with capital for rehabilitation, and ensure that tenants are not displaced.
  • Allows owners to receive budget based rent increases, thus ensuring that the properties are adequately maintained and encouraging owners to renew Section 8 contracts.
Prevent the Displacement of Disabled, Elderly and Other Low-Income Tenants
  • Closes gaps in existing law to ensure that all low and moderate-income tenants are eligible for enhanced vouchers in the event that the assisted housing is converted to market rate housing.
  • Gives HUD and affordable housing groups the tools needed to recapitalize the aging Section 202 elderly housing portfolio.
  • Enables tenants to be partners with HUD, Rural Development (RD) and owners to ensure that federally-assisted housing is properly maintained.
  • Includes notification requirements to ensure that tenants are given sufficient notice prior to the conversion of the property to market rate housing.
Preserve Rural Housing
  • Makes permanent a rural housing revitalization demonstration program launched in Fiscal Year 2006 that is designed to preserve and recapitalize Section 515 properties.
  • Authorizes vouchers for tenants in properties that are converted to market rate housing or foreclosed.
  • Extends the same protections that tenants in HUD-assisted housing currently have to tenants in RD-assisted multifamily properties.
Establish a National Database to Further Preservation
  • Directs HUD to establish a nationwide public database of HUD and RD assisted properties to enable policymakers and the public to more effectively monitor and preserve the existing portfolio of affordable housing and contains adequate safeguards to ensure the protection of owners' privacy rights and proprietary information.