The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
  • ABOUT
    • About the AHTCC
    • AHTCC Leadership
      • Board of Directors
      • Staff
    • AHTCC Members
    • Contact Us
  • HOUSING CREDIT
    • About the Housing Credit
    • How It Works
    • Impact
      • Native Americans
      • Veterans
    • Resident Stories
    • Finding Housing
  • ADVOCACY
    • Advocate Today
    • AHCIA
    • Regulatory Issues
    • AHTCC Priorities
  • GALLERY
  • EVENTS
  • AWARDS
    • Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards
    • Affordable Housing Champion Award
    • David Reznick Lifetime Achievement Award
  • NEWS
  • JOIN
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
  • ABOUT
    • About the AHTCC
    • AHTCC Leadership
      • Board of Directors
      • Staff
    • AHTCC Members
    • Contact Us
  • HOUSING CREDIT
    • About the Housing Credit
    • How It Works
    • Impact
      • Native Americans
      • Veterans
    • Resident Stories
    • Finding Housing
  • ADVOCACY
    • Advocate Today
    • AHCIA
    • Regulatory Issues
    • AHTCC Priorities
  • GALLERY
  • EVENTS
  • AWARDS
    • Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards
    • Affordable Housing Champion Award
    • David Reznick Lifetime Achievement Award
  • NEWS
  • JOIN

Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA)

Legislation to expand and strengthen the Housing Credit

3 million jobs

would have been supported

$345 billion

in wages and business income would have been provided

$119 billion

in tax revenue would have been generated

Learn about our Housing Credit priorities

Broadly-Supported, Bipartisan Legislation

The AHCIA is expected to be reintroduced in the 118th Congress.

In the 117th Congress, the AHCIA was co-sponsored by nearly half of the House of Representatives and Senate. Since it was first introduced in 2016, three key provisions of the AHCIA were enacted: a minimum 4 percent Housing Credit rate in 2020, a 12.5 percent allocation increase in 2018 (which expired in 2021) and “income averaging,” which allows properties to serve tenants with a broader range of incomes, in 2018.

Lead Sponsors in 117th Congress

The Senate AHCIA of 2021 (S.1136) was led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and former Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), and cosponsored by nearly half of the Senate.

The House AHCIA of 2021 (H.R.2573) was led by Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Don Beyer (D-VA) and the late Jackie Walorski (R-IN), and was cosponsored by over 200 members of the House.

Legislation to Strengthen What’s Working

Through successful public-private partnerships, the Housing Credit offers a proven track record of financing nearly 3.5 million safe, decent, affordable homes in rural, suburban, and urban areas, serving 8 million households since 1986. Residents are essential workers, veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-wage workers with a national median income less than $18,000. If forced to pay market-rate rents, many would be just one unforeseen event away from being unable to pay rent and potentially losing housing.

The AHCIA included provisions to:

Increase affordable housing production and preservation

  • Increase the annual Housing Credit allocation by 50 percent over the current level, phased in over 2 years, which is especially urgent as the Housing Credit is now facing its lowest allocation in four years.
  • Expand access to Housing Credits by more efficiently using Private Activity Bond financing

Better serve hard-to-reach areas and populations

  • Make more developments serving extremely low-income and formerly homeless tenants financially feasible
  • Support Housing Credit developments for veterans
  • Encourage developments in rural and Native American communities
  • Facilitate the revitalization of higher-poverty communities and the development of more properties in high-opportunity areas

Remove barriers to affordable housing preservation

  • Facilitate safe tenant relocation during the rehabilitation of Housing Credit properties
  • Ensure properties are given enough time to rebuild after disasters or significant damages
  • Allow flexibility for existing tenants when refinancing properties

Streamline program rules and promote efficiency

  • Encourage states to consider cost reasonableness in their decision-making process
  • Make the Housing Credit more compatible with energy tax incentives
  • Ensure that rules designed to prevent college students from living in Housing Credit properties do not unfairly penalize residents seeking to further their education
  • Prohibit local approval and contribution requirements that can prevent developments from moving forward due to Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) opposition

The AHCIA included additional provisions that would further strengthen the Housing Credit. For more information, read the details of the AHCIA of 2021. Additional resources are located in the sidebar.

RESOURCES

AHCIA RESOURCES

Summary
Impact
Details
New/Updated Provisions
Legislative Text
Webinar

KEY PROVISIONS

Expanding the Housing Credit
Lowering the 50% Test

AHCIA COSPONSORS

Senate Cosponsors
House Cosponsors

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

About the Housing Credit
Resident Stories
AHCIA as Infrastructure

The Housing Credit: A strong, stable solution to America’s affordable housing needs

ADVOCATE FOR THE AHCIA

Virtually all new affordable housing utilizes the Housing Credit – now is the time to expand and strengthen the program to provide more affordable homes. Advocate today.

The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition is a trade organization of housing professionals who advocate in support of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

LATEST NEWS FROM AHTCC

  • White House Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Proposal Calls for Additional $28 Billion Investment in Housing Credit, Including Enactment of AHTCC’s Top Production Priorities
  • Housing Credit Raised as Primary Focus in Senate Finance Committee Hearing

AHTCC ON TWITTER

Retweet on Twitter AHTCC Retweeted
23 Mar 1638906443658301443

Looking forward to sharing #housing industry insight alongside @EmilyCadik, Bryan Greene of @nardotrealtor, and Steve O’Connor of @MBAMortgage on Monday, March 27 @NCSHAhome #LegCon23.

Register ...now to join us: https://www.ncsha.org/event/2023-legislative-conference/

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CONTACT

1900 M Street NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20036
202-935-0977
info@taxcreditcoalition.org

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© 2020 The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition