It didn't make much of a stir in the news, but the House passage of a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund last week could provide funds to build or repair 1.5 million units of housing in the next decade. The Senate should follow suit. This bill would set up in the Treasury a fund that would draw on profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government mortgage agencies, and from the Federal Housing Administration. The money would go to localities, which would have to put up $1 for every $2 from the fund.
Housing First, a New York State advocacy organization, estimates that in years when the fund reaches $2 billion, it could bring $4.1 million to Nassau County and $2.5 million to Suffolk, and additional money to localities here.
There's no guarantee that town and village governments, which haven't done as much as they should on the affordable housing issue, would make good use of the fund. It promotes mixed-income development, while helping very low-income families. Here, that means those making less than $27,300. Housing First estimates the shortage of affordable units for families at that level to be 16,000 in Suffolk and 13,000 in Nassau.
This would be the first major increase in decades in federal efforts to produce housing. It should become law.
Source: Newsday.com