In celebration of the new online resources NHC is developing, we’re featuring stories about the tools and resources of some of our members.
NHC member Enterprise Community Partners recently updated a set of advocacy fact sheets for the ACTION (A Call to Invest in Our Neighborhoods) Campaign. The campaign is a national, grassroots coalition of over 1,000 national, state and local organizations including NHC focused on ensuring that low-income working families throughout the nation have access to decent, safe and affordable rental housing. The mission of the ACTION Campaign is to protect, strengthen and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and preserve Tax-Exempt Multifamily Housing Bonds.
The fact sheets were updated in August with the most recent available research from 2013, which demonstrates the positive impact LIHTC funds have had on producing and preserving affordable housing, economic impacts and job creation. Housing advocates can download fact sheets by state or get information on all of the 435 congressional districts; and, for the first time ever, data on the number of cost-burdened renters by state is included.
Based on an analysis of the 2013 American Community Survey, the factsheets show that there are over 26 million renters in the country who pay more than half of their income on housing related costs.
“These data help make the case for how much affordable housing is still needed, and why we must protect, strengthen and expand the Housing Credit and preserve Housing Bonds,” said Emily Cadick, senior analyst project director at Enterprise Community Partners. “Without these tools, it is uneconomic for the private sector to build affordable homes for the families that need them most.”
Since 1986, LIHTC funds have financed nearly 2.8 million affordable rental homes and leveraged nearly $100 billion in private equity capital. Tax-Exempt Multifamily Housing Bonds have been used in more than 40 percent of these homes and are vital to the success of the LIHTC.