Attention lenders and affordable housing developers: The 2018 AHP is coming!

The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program 2018 funding application period opens on Monday, June 11, four weeks earlier than usual. The program awards grants and low-interest loans through member institutions to organizations promoting homeownership and rental housing for households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Approximately $18.1 million in AHP subsidy is available. Applications are due by Thursday, August 2.

Please join VHFA in celebrating Fair Housing Month this April. This year is special as we mark the 50^th anniversary of the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act.

Last week the Vermont House approved H. 922 which includes provisions from an earlier bill (H.766) that expands VHFA’s Down Payment Assistance Program. The bill is now passed over to the Senate and earlier this week was read and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. Since the DPA program started in 2015, demand among qualified first-time home buyers has been twice what can be funded through the Vermont Affordable Housing Tax Credit, the program’s designated funding source. 

Last week, the federal government passed an omnibus bill funding the government for FY 2018.  Funding for housing and homeless assistance programs exceeded what housing advocates had anticipated. Among the spending is a substantial boost to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which will see an increase of 12.5% to the annual state per capita credit allocation for the next four years. In addition, the bill contains $11.15 billion for project-based rental assistance, an increase of $50 million from FY 2017. These funding increases will be extremely helpful in VHFA’s efforts to expand access to decent, affordable housing.