The House voted 396 to 13 on Wednesday to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a margin that rarely shows up in a chamber this divided.
Affordable housing developers had a particular reason to watch. The bill raises the public welfare investment cap, known as the PWI cap, from 15 to 20 percent. Banks use that cap to limit how much they put into Housing Credit properties.
It also drops a rule that forced the sale of build-to-rent properties after seven years, and it tells the Department of Housing and Urban Development to review how it handles Build America, Buy America regulations.
Emily Cadik, CEO of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, credited House Financial Services Committee Chairman Hill and Ranking Member Waters for leading the bill. She said it “would expand our nation’s affordable housing supply and modernize key programs.” The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, she noted, was recently expanded and remains the main driver of affordable housing supply in the country. Lifting the cap, in her view, “will unlock billions of dollars in new private investment in the Housing Credit.”
Dudley Benoit, president of the coalition’s board and a senior managing director at Walker & Dunlop, said many Housing Credit investors want to put in more but are held back by the cap. Raising it, he said, would let banks “more effectively leverage the Housing Credit and increase their investments in affordable housing nationwide.”
The coalition called for final passage of the bill.
