PRESS RELEASE: Housing Advocates Applaud House for Passing National Affordable Housing Trust Fund

October 10, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2007

Contact: Nicole Letourneau (202) 662-1530 x227 nicole@nlihc.org

Housing Advocates Applaud House for Passing National Affordable Housing Trust Fund

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Campaign and its more than 5,600 supporters across the country celebrated a huge victory for low income people when the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, a bill to increase the supply of rental housing that low income people can afford.

The House voted 264-148 to pass H.R. 2895, legislation to establish dedicated sources of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area’s median income.

The NHTF Campaign, which is coordinated by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), has been working since 2001 on the goal of successful passage of legislation to establish a national housing trust fund .

“Congratulations and thanks to Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and other leaders in the House who supported this important bipartisan bill,” Sheila Crowley, president of NLIHC, said. “This is a great moment for the millions of American families and elderly or disabled people whose well-being are compromised every day because they cannot afford even modest safe and healthy homes.”

There is an acute lack of affordable housing in the United States. Nationwide, there are only 6.2 million homes renting at prices affordable to the 9 million extremely low income renter households -- a shortage of 2.8 million homes. Not a single Congressional district has enough rental housing affordable and available to extremely low income families. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income.

“Housing is the foundation of thriving communities,” Crowley said. “In the United States of America, we should not tolerate a housing shortage of the magnitude we now face. H.R. 2895 asserts that this housing shortage is unacceptable and that we as a nation intend to correct this failing at long last.”

The House has already passed two sources of funding for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates have a combined value of $800 million to $1 billion a year. The first pot of money comes from funds from the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The second source of funds comes from expansion of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) product. To reach the goal of 1.5 million units in 10 years, other dedicated sources of funding will have to be added, which the bill allows. The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund bill gets the best minds working on any number of creative ways to direct additional revenue into the fund.

The NHTF Campaign has pledged to work together with its members across the country and their representatives in the Congress to achieve the goal to establish a national housing trust fund in the 110th session of Congress. A bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate prior to adjournment of this session, which will be sometime in November or December.

More information about the NHTF Campaign: www.nhtf.org. An online toolkit contains helpful information including a summary of the legislation, frequently asked questions, fact sheets and data on the need for housing that is affordable to low income people.

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