The National Housing Trust Fund is a new, dedicated source of funding for extremely low income households, providing states with funds to expand the supply of available, affordable housing for extremely low income households (ELI), or those that earn less than 30 percent of their area’s median income.
In 2016, the first year that Trust Fund dollars will be made available to states, Texas will receive $4,778,364 to be allocated through a competitive application process by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). The agency has begun to draft an allocation plan and will hold roundtables and a public comment period from April through June, before funding is released by the federal government in the summer.
We are part of a coalition of advocates for the homeless, people with disabilities and others who have developed recommendations for the state on how the Trust Fund can best be used.
View our coalition’s letter to TDHCA [PDF]
View our follow-up letter in response to TDHCA’s draft allocation plan [PDF]
View our response to TDHCA rulemaking for the Trust Fund through the Direct Loan program [PDF]
We are state partners in the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), which began to advocate for the Trust Fund more than 15 years ago and has provided crucial guidance on Trust Fund allocation for states, local organizations and developers. NLIHC has produced materials about the Trust Fund in Texas, including a webinar accessible as a video and a slideshow and a model allocation plan for TDHCA.
NLIHC Texas Trust Fund Webinar
NLIHC Texas Trust Fund Slides [PDF]
NLIHC Texas Model Allocation Plan [PDF]
More information on the Trust Fund can be found on NLIHC’s website.
From our site:
What you need to know about HUD’s National Housing Trust Fund regulations (February 2015)
National Housing Trust Fund at risk of losing funding (May 2015)
National Housing Trust Fund and HOME program threatened in Congress (November 2015)
Advocates: Let’s get the National Housing Trust Fund details right from the beginning (May 2016)
Want to learn about how to grow the National Housing Trust Fund – potentially adding billions of dollars to Texas’ share?
United for Homes: Fix mortgage inequalities and generate billions for affordable rental housing (November 2015)