Treasury Announces New Funding and New Rule to Expand Affordable Housing

This week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced new efforts to increase the supply of housing, including:

A new program administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund that will provide an additional $100 million over the next three years to support the financing of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households
An effort to provide greater interest rate predictability to state and local housing finance agencies borrowing from the Federal Financing Bank to support new housing development
A call to action for the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks—government-sponsored enterprises that play an important role in the housing finance system—to increase their spending on housing programs and devote at least 20% of their net income to housing programs, with a particular focus on new construction
A new “how-to guide” to help state and local governments use State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to increase the supply of housing
An updated rule for the Capital Magnet Fund—the CDFI Fund’s existing affordable housing investment program—to provide greater flexibility to CDFIs and nonprofits that finance affordable housing