--News Direct--
Washington, DC (November 15, 2021) -- Today, rural housing and community development professionals across the country convene at the annual meeting of the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC). Founded in 1969, NRHC is a national membership organization and the nation’s oldest rural housing advocacy coalition.
Coalition members will hear today from key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Officials, including Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small.
In addition, Coalition members will discuss rural housing programs and policy issues and the status of federal legislation affecting affordable housing programs.
At the meeting, NRHC will release its most recent Rural Housing Impact Report, made possible through a generous grant from Wells Fargo. The report documents the success of nonprofit organizations in improving housing conditions in small towns and farming communities across America.
NRHC surveyed its members on their work financing the construction of homeowner and rental housing, the development of community facilities, and the provision of housing counseling and technical assistance. Coalition survey data was supplemented by data from three housing and community development intermediaries supporting more than 100 organizations working in rural communities: Habitat for Humanity, NeighborWorks, and Rural LISC.
The report covers housing activities for organizations’ most recent fiscal year.
Among the key findings:
Survey participants deployed $3.7 billion toward creating, preserving, or financing some 20,000 units of affordable housing for homeowners. This included 9,700 units of new housing comprising of 1,046 new construction units; more than 1,600 units through USDA’s Mutual Self Help Housing program and Habitat for Humanity; more than 4,300 home repairs, and some 2,600 units of newly acquired housing. Key sources of financing included private sector capital assembled by NeighborWorks, and USDA’s section 502 direct loan program; and
Survey participants developed, preserved, or managed more than 40,000 units of rental housing in rural communities. This activity included more than $387 million in financing for new construction or preservation of existing housing. The most common sources of funding of included federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, USDA rural rental housing loans, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Home Investment Partnership.
Using an economic impact model developed by the National Association of Home Builders, NRHC estimated that the economic activity resulting from survey participants’ rural housing development generated 13,645 jobs.
Other important survey data points include:
More than 72,000 households received housing counseling; of that number, 68,000 received pre-purchase counseling;
Four survey respondents are Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and provided more than $48 million in loans supporting 1,400 units of affordable housing;
Rural housing organizations also provided assistance to 43 water and wastewater systems serving close to 13,000 households;
Three Intermediary organizations provided grant assistance of more than $4.3 million to 173 rural housing organizations; and
Four survey respondents reported providing training and technical assistance to 169 organizations and 700 individuals.
The report also includes rural housing “success stories” from 19 NRHC member organizations, highlighting their efforts to improve affordable housing in rural America.
The data and stories in the report highlight the success of rural housing organizations at a moment when federal rural housing support has slowed to a trickle. Since Fiscal Year 2000, loan subsidies for low-income homeownership, rental and farmworker housing, and related assistance have been cut by more 60 percent.
“A generation of budget cuts for rural housing programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is one of the driving factors of housing distress in rural areas, including the low rate of construction, the incidence of substandard housing, and the high cost of housing. The report highlights the ingenuity of rural housing organizations in filling the gaps resulting from anemic federal support,” said Bob Rapoza, Executive Secretary of NRHC.
Rural housing advocates will use the next few weeks to make their case to lawmakers for more support for rural housing.
About the National Rural Housing Coalition
In 1969, a group of concerned rural community activists, public officials, and non-profit developers formed the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) to fight for better housing and community facilities for low-income rural families. Today, NRHC works to promote and defend the principle that rural people have the right — regardless of income — to a decent, affordable place to live, clean drinking water, and basic community services. For more information, visit Ruralhousingcoalition.org.
Contact DetailsNational Rural Housing Coalition
Bob Rapoza
+1 202-393-5225
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