By NAHB Now
As NAHBNow reported previously, House Democrats are working to draft a $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan that includes onerous tax hikes of $2 trillion and aggressive energy efficiency requirements in model building energy codes that would harm housing affordability.
This ambitious plan, which focuses on what the White House refers to as “human infrastructure,” also contains several other elements of interest to the housing community.
Affordable Housing Provisions
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) seeks to include portions of the Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2021 into the broader Build Back Better legislative package.
The base text contains:
- $300 billion in affordable housing funding, including $34.77 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, $75 billion for Housing Choice Vouchers and $15 billion for new Project Based Section 8 contracts.
- $4.8 billion for rural multifamily housing.
- $8.5 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
- $4.5 billion for NAHB-supported CDBG competitive grants that would require local jurisdictions to eliminate impact fees and restrictive zoning requirements.
- $200 million in grant funding through the Department of Agriculture’s Sections 502, 504 and 523 programs to help low-income home owners in rural areas purchase, repair, upgrade and preserve modest, affordable homes, including manufactured homes.
- $50 million to support sweat equity and volunteer-based homeownership programs for low-income households.
- $770 million for fair housing initiatives.
