Congress is prepared to make historic investments in affordable housing centered on President Biden’s vision of investing in communities to address racial inequity, climate change and economic recovery in his Build Back Better Plan. A two-track approach is underway to pass both a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) […]
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the bipartisan bill advancing in Washington, includes two new uses for private activity bonds, which will compete with affordable housing under state volume cap. Since federal tax-exempt private activity bonds are one of the most important financing tools to build and preserve affordable housing, Congress will need to adopt additional legislative changes to offset potentially negative impacts on affordable housing. Read our brief on the proposed changes and […]
The New York Housing Conference was quoted in several stories and programs over the past several weeks about the state’s eviction moratorium and emergency rental assistance as well as the need for safety and legalization of basement apartments in New York City. See the links below. NY1 – Millions of Americans no longer protected by […]
Thompson Reuters Foundation News published an Op-Ed by New York Conference’s Brendan Cheney on the need to address the city’s and the nation’s housing crisis to keep people safe. The flooding caused by Hurricane Ida highlighted how people are living in unsafe housing, including deadly basement apartments, because they cannot afford safe housing. The destruction […]
Last week, President Joe Biden announced that he is reviving the partnership between the Department of Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank (FFB) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Risk Sharing Program. The program provides low-cost capital in cooperation with state housing finance agencies for affordable housing development. HUD estimates 20,000 affordable housing units can be created […]
A New York Housing Conference policy brief shows how a simple legislative change to tax-exempt private activity bond “PAB” rules can spur the creation of more than 100,000 new affordable homes in New York over the next ten years. Private Activity Bonds have a “50 percent test”, which requires that 50 percent of a development‘s […]
New York Housing Conference joined with 11 other housing groups to express concern about the rollout of the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and calling for changes and improvements. The groups welcomed the administration’s announcement of a more streamlined application process, there are still significant barriers to the application process, fund distribution remains intolerably […]
Over the weekend, Rachel Fee and Rep. Ritchie Torres published an op-ed in the New York Daily News, “A home for every American: Congress Must Act Boldly on Housing Now,” calling on Congress to take this opportunity to make a historic investment in housing. They argue that it is possible to end homelessness, housing poverty, […]
New York Housing Conference and five partner organizations sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo calling on him to sign legislation establishing an affordable housing five-year capital plan (A3807A / S2193A). The bill would require that the administration create a statewide comprehensive five-year capital affordable housing plan every five years, which would allow developers to […]
On Thursday, July 22nd, the New York Housing Conference hosted the second installment of our summer seminar series, produced by our Rising Leaders Network. Thursday’s webinar focused on the opportunity for Commercial to Residential Conversions. The discussion was moderated by Wendi Shafran (FXCollaborative) and the panelists included Mark Ginsberg (Curtis + Ginsberg LLP), Thehbia Hiwot […]