NCSHA Housing Credit Institute Recap
Industry professionals gathered earlier this month in Washington DC for the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ Housing Credit and HOME Institutes. Much of the discussion revolved around the recovery efforts and regulatory initiatives brought on by the economic downturn. A few things stood out in particular:
Harvard paper on LIHTC disruptions
On January 6, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released a paper entitled, “The Disruption of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program: Causes, Consequences, Responses and Proposed Correctives.” The study, which includes an examination of how the reforms implemented as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 have impacted the LIHTC program, was referenced numerous times during the workshops.
ACTION group seeks legislative reform
Also of note was the coalition group called ACTION, or A Call to Invest in Our Neighborhoods. ACTION, which currently consists of 160 cross-industry members, was formed to address the distressing impact of the economic downturn, in particular its impact on the LIHTC program. ACTION estimates that 60,000 fewer units are being developed and 70,000 construction jobs have been lost since the economy nose-dived and tax credit investment all but disappeared over the past couple of years.