DeLauro Announces Recovery Funding to Jumpstart Construction of Affordable Housing

New Haven, CT – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn. – 3) announced $26.1 million in funding for affordable housing programs in Connecticut through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new Tax Credit Assistance Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to resume funding of affordable rental housing projects across the state while stimulating employment in the construction industry.

"This recession has hit many families hard and as a result increasing demand for quality, affordable housing options for moderate- and low-income families. Yet the recession has sidelined many of the construction projects for this housing. With the Tax Credit Assistance Program and the funding included in the Recovery Act we will help jumpstart the investment in affordable rental housing projects, as well as putting people, especially in the construction industry, back to work," said DeLauro.

The current economic and financial crises have created significant challenges for the construction industry, particularly residential construction. One of the by-products of this crisis has been the freezing of investments in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit market. Tax credits provide an incentive for investors to provide capital to developers to build multi-family rental housing for moderate- and low-income families across the nation. Since the contraction of the credit market, and as traditional investors remain on the sidelines, the value of tax credits has plummeted. Consequently, as many as 1,000 projects (containing nearly 150,000 units of housing) are on hold across the country.

The Recovery Act provides $2.250 billion for TCAP, a grant program to provide capital investments in these stalled Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects. Funding is awarded to the 52 State Housing Credit Agencies that administer the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, as determined by formula, to complete construction of qualified housing projects that will ultimately provide affordable housing to an estimated 35,000 households nationwide. Since a major purpose of this program is job creation, the Recovery Act establishes ambitious deadlines for expenditure of grant funds and requires state housing credit agencies to give priority to projects that can begin immediately and be completed by February 16, 2012.