ARLINGTON, Va. | December 7, 2023 – Today, the Workforce Housing Tax Credit Act was introduced in the House and Senate with support from members of both parties. NAA and NMHC thank Senate Finance Committee Chair Wyden (D-Ore.), Senator Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Representatives Panetta (D-Calif.) and Carey (R-Ohio) for their work to broaden housing opportunity and availability.
This bipartisan proposal has broad support from rental housing providers, advocates and other stakeholders across the housing ecosystem. The legislation, long supported and endorsed by NAA and NMHC, would build on the success of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and is vitally important to increasing housing supply and supporting the construction of workforce housing that everyday Americans can afford.
Housing affordability impacts workers who comprise the very fabric of strong communities nationwide, including teachers, firefighters, nurses and police officers whose wages are not keeping pace with housing costs - driven by factors such as construction and labor costs, rising insurance and local and state taxes and a chronic undersupply of places to live.
“NAA and NMHC were pleased to work closely with Chair Wyden, Senator Sullivan and Representatives Panetta and Carey on the Workforce Housing Tax Credit,” said NAA President and CEO Bob Pinnegar and NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno. “The Workforce Housing Tax Credit would complement the widely successful Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by expanding it to include moderate-income households that are also facing rising housing costs. It would help increase the supply of housing available in communities across the country which, in turn, will ease affordability challenges and increase housing access.”
The Workforce Housing Tax Credit Act would enable state housing agencies to issue credit allocations to developers that would subsequently be sold to investors. Investors would receive a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their federal tax liability over a 15-year period, and developers would invest the equity raised to build apartments.
Learn more about the Workforce Housing Tax Credit here.
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For more than 26 years, the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) have partnered on behalf of America's apartment industry. Drawing on the knowledge and policy expertise of staff in Washington, D.C., as well as the advocacy power of 141 NAA state and local affiliated associations, NAA and NMHC provide a single voice for developers, owners and operators of multifamily rental housing. One-third of all Americans rent their housing, and 40 million of them live in an apartment home.