| Established | 1931 |
| President and CEO | David Dworkin |
| Chair | Steve O'Connor |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Homepage | www.nhc.org |
| Part of a series on |
| Living spaces |
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The National Housing Conference (NHC) is an American non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. established in 1931.
In 1931, Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch, a reformer and social worker, formed the National Public Housing Conference, which became the National Housing Conference (NHC), the first[ citation needed ] non-partisan, independent coalition of national housing leaders from both the public and private sector. Simkhovitch believed that imaginative programs could replace slums with decent housing and revive the creative spirit of a community. [1] In 1934, NHC pushed hard to get the Federal Home Loan Bank Board set up, and helped engineer the passage of the National Housing Act of 1934, which created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
NHC's efforts in the 1950s and 1960s helped secure the expansion of the Housing Act of 1949 in 1954, which included authorization of slum clearance and permitted rent adjustments based on income. Part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” included the creation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1965, a cabinet level department with decent housing as its only goal. [2]
In 1973, Clara Fox, executive director of the Settlement Housing Fund, organized developers, lenders, builders, property managers, residents and others interested in affordable housing into a powerful coalition to fight President Richard Nixon’s actions to limit federal housing programs. The following year, this coalition, the New York Housing Conference (NYHC), affiliated with NHC. Fox served as co-chair of NYHC until her death in December 2007. [1]
After Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter authorized record high budgets for HUD in the 1970s, the election of Ronald Reagan in 1982 led to drastic housing budget cuts. Despite the reluctance of the Reagan Administration, NHC successfully lobbied for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit legislation, which gave private investors a 10-year tax incentive to invest in affordable housing by providing equity for multi-family housing with a designated number of units for low-income tenants. This remains the most important incentive for financing low-income housing. [3]
In 1992, President Bill Clinton’s new HUD administration approached NHC for help in determining how best to preserve the 940,000 Section 8 program units facing defaults. NHC convened a special task force numbering over 110 industry leaders from all different sectors of the housing industry. The coalition drafted a proposal that resulted in “Mark to Market” legislation, helping to preserve hundreds of thousands of rental units. Also in 1992, NHC created the Center for Housing Policy, an affiliated housing research organization dedicated to conducting practical and relevant research for housing practitioners and policymakers. Jeffrey Lubell serves as executive director of the center.
David Dworkin serves as president and CEO of NHC and Steve O'Connor is the chair of the Board of Governors.
NHC holds several regional housing forums each year, in partnership with a network of other national, state and local housing and related organizations. The forums discuss national issues, including affordability, sustainability, and housing's connections to transportation, economic development, education, public health, and more. [4]
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The New York Housing Conference (NYHC) was established in 1973 to develop and advocate for affordable housing policy and programs at the federal, state and city level. NYHC has worked with local government agencies to create low-, moderate- and middle-income housing programs locally and has helped gain enactment of major housing legislation.
Founded in 1997, the California Housing Consortium/CHC Institute is a coalition of developers, lenders, state and local government officials, homebuilders, investors, property managers, residents and housing professionals.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and urban development, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities with the stated goal of providing affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure development. CDBG, like other block grant programs, differ from categorical grants, made for specific purposes, in that they are subject to less federal oversight and are largely used at the discretion of the state and local governments and their subgrantees.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a federal program in the United States that awards tax credits to housing developers in exchange for agreeing to reserve a certain fraction of rent-restricted units for lower-income households. The program was created under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) to incentivize the use of private equity in developing affordable housing. Projects developed with LIHTC credits must maintain a certain percentage of affordable units for a set period of time, typically 30 years, though there is a "qualified contract" process that can allow property owners to opt out after 15 years. The maximum rent that can be charged for designated affordable units is based on Area Median Income (AMI); over 50% of residents in LIHTC properties are considered Extremely Low-Income. Less than 10% of current credit expenditures are claimed by individual investors.
An FHA insured loan is a US Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance backed mortgage loan that is provided by an FHA-approved lender. FHA mortgage insurance protects lenders against losses. They have historically allowed lower-income Americans to borrow money to purchase a home that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Because this type of loan is more geared towards new house owners than real estate investors, FHA loans are different from conventional loans in the sense that the house must be owner-occupant for at least a year. Since loans with lower down-payments usually involve more risk to the lender, the home-buyer must pay a two-part mortgage insurance that involves a one-time bulk payment and a monthly payment to compensate for the increased risk. Frequently, individuals "refinance" or replace their FHA loan to remove their monthly mortgage insurance premium. Removing mortgage insurance premium by paying down the loan has become more difficult with FHA loans as of 2013.
The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), or Minnesota Housing, is a state agency in Minnesota, United States, established to address the growing concerns of affordable housing, homelessness, and housing security in the state. Its primary mission is to provide affordable housing opportunities for Minnesotans who are low and moderate income earners. Created by the Minnesota Legislature, the agency works to stimulate the construction, rehabilitation, and sustainability of affordable homes and rental properties.
The Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Its mission is to ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing, create opportunities for residents' self-sufficiency and economic independence, and assure the fiscal integrity of all program participants.
HOPE VI is a program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is intended to revitalize the most distressed public housing projects in the United States into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urbanism and the concept of defensible space.
Workforce housing is a term that is increasingly used by planners, government, and organizations concerned with housing policy or advocacy. It is gaining cachet with realtors, developers and lenders. Workforce housing can refer to any form of housing, including ownership of single or multi-family homes, as well as occupation of rental units. Workforce housing is generally understood to mean affordable housing for households with earned income that is insufficient to secure quality housing in reasonable proximity to the workplace.
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is a type of United States federal assistance that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides to states to create decent and affordable housing, particularly housing for low and very low income Americans. It is the largest Federal block grant to states and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income families, providing approximately US$2 billion each year.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) is the state's lead agency responsible for homeownership, affordable rental housing, community and energy assistance programs, and colonia activities serving primarily low income Texans. The Manufactured Housing Division of TDHCA regulates the manufactured housing industry in Texas. The Department annually administers more than $400 million through for-profit, nonprofit, and local government partnerships to deliver local housing and community-based opportunities and assistance to Texans in need. The department is headquartered at 221 East 11th Street in Austin.
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fair Deal.
The Housing Act of 1937, formally the "United States Housing Act of 1937" and sometimes called the Wagner–Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the United States federal government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to improve living conditions for low-income families.
Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing is a basic human need, and it plays a critical role in shaping the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.
In the United States, subsidized housing is administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized rental assistance for low-income households. Public housing is priced much below the market rate, allowing people to live in more convenient locations rather than move away from the city in search of lower rents. In most federally-funded rental assistance programs, the tenants' monthly rent is set at 30% of their household income. Now increasingly provided in a variety of settings and formats, originally public housing in the U.S. consisted primarily of one or more concentrated blocks of low-rise and/or high-rise apartment buildings. These complexes are operated by state and local housing authorities which are authorized and funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 2020, there were one million public housing units. In 2022, about 5.2 million American households that received some form of federal rental assistance.
The Coalition for Economic Survival (CES) is a grassroots, non-profit community organization. CES works in the greater Los Angeles area to influence policy makers to improve the lives of low and moderate income people.
Loan modification is the systematic alteration of mortgage loan agreements that help those having problems making the payments by reducing interest rates, monthly payments or principal balances. Lending institutions could make one or more of these changes to relieve financial pressure on borrowers to prevent the condition of foreclosure. Loan modifications have been practiced in the United States since the 1930s. During the Great Depression, loan modification programs took place at the state level in an effort to reduce levels of loan foreclosures.
Non-profit housing developers build affordable housing for individuals under-served by the private market. The non-profit housing sector is composed of community development corporations (CDC) and national and regional non-profit housing organizations whose mission is to provide for the needy, the elderly, working households, and others that the private housing market does not adequately serve. Of the total 4.6 million units in the social housing sector, non-profit developers have produced approximately 1.547 million units, or roughly one-third of the total stock. Since non-profit developers seldom have the financial resources or access to capital that for-profit entities do, they often use multiple layers of financing, usually from a variety of sources for both development and operation of these affordable housing units.
The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law 90–448, 82 Stat. 476, enacted August 1, 1968, was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration. The act came on the heels of major riots across cities throughout the U.S. in 1967, the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, and the publication of the report of the Kerner Commission, which recommended major expansions in public funding and support of urban areas. President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to the legislation as one of the most significant laws ever passed in the U.S., due to its scale and ambition. The act's declared intention was constructing or rehabilitating 26 million housing units, 6 million of these for low- and moderate-income families, over the next 10 years.
National Equity Fund, Inc (NEF) is a national non-profit syndicator of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Created in 1987 as an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and headquartered in Chicago, NEF is one of the largest non-profit LIHTC syndicators in the United States of America.
Affordable housing is housing that is deemed affordable to those with a median household income as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. A general rule is no more than 30% of gross monthly income should be spent on housing, to be considered affordable as the challenges of promoting affordable housing varies by location.
