Officials from the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) released a statement yesterday, applauding actions taken by a group of bipartisan legislators in both the House and Senate to reintroduce the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act. NLBMDA staff said the legislation would address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing by protecting, expanding and strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

“The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit plays a critical role in helping address our nation’s affordable housing crisis and NLBMDA is delighted to see the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act reintroduced in the 116^th Congress,” said Jonathan Paine, NLBMDA president and CEO. “This legislation will help spur affordable housing development, provide predictability for developers and make more types of development financially feasible.”

According to information released by NLBMDA, legislation would boost affordable housing development by increasing the amount of credits allocated to each state by 50% over a five-year period, while also establishing a minimum 4% credit rate floor, increasing the amount of equity available to build affordable housing. Officials from the NLBMDA say this legislation would help close the gap between the costs of developing homes and the financing available to provide affordable rents to low- and moderate-income families. Estimates have shown that 65,000 additional rental homes could be financed over the next 10 years if a minimum 4% floor is established for LIHTCs in combination with tax-exempt private activity bonds, the NLBMDA’s news release suggests.