By Donna Kimura | Housing Finance
The Biden administration has released a sweeping Housing Supply Action Plan to increase the amount of affordable housing across the country.
The proposal includes a mix of both administrative and legislative actions aimed at closing the housing supply shortfall in five years.
Under the plan, the administration says it will expand existing forms of federal financing for affordable multifamily development preservation. This includes working with Fannie Mae to explore the feasibility of making construction-to-permanent loans, where one loan finances the construction but is also a long-term mortgage, more widely available.
In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are looking at how to expand and better market their forward commitment programs for multifamily development and rehabilitation.
The administration also plans to reward jurisdictions that have reformed zoning and land-use policies with higher scores in certain grant processes, for the first time at scale. In another step, officials want to help fill financing gaps for manufactured housing, accessory dwelling units, and smaller multifamily developments.
