The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has reserved $79.5 million in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to developers constructing or rehabilitating nearly 5,000 homes in 68 affordable housing communities across the state.
“As Texas continues to outpace other states in terms of job creation and livability, TDHCA’s multifamily financing remains an important component to ensuring our expanding workforce has adequate, high-quality housing in which to live,” said TDHCA acting director David Cervantes. “The housing tax credit program is a remarkable example of how public and private dollars can serve all Texans and benefit the overall economic health of our state.”
The 2019 credits are expected to help finance the building of 52 new properties with 3,822 units and the rehabilitation of 16 properties offering 1,148 units to income-eligible households across the state. The at-risk set aside, totaling more than $11.9 million for the 2019 cycle, is used for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of aging housing developments that could soon lose rental subsidies provided to their low-income residents.
“For the second year in a row, every eligible at-risk application we received will be awarded tax credits,” said Marni Holloway, TDHCA director of multifamily finance. “Because of this, TDHCA’s efforts will help preserve housing affordability for some of our most vulnerable Texans in rural communities.”
Developers use proceeds from the sale of the credits as financing for their property. The credits announced today are designed to cover approximately 70% of each property’s eligible development costs.
Since 1987, more than 260,000 affordable housing units have been built or preserved in Texas through the LIHTC program. It’s estimated that the new construction and rehabilitation of developments that opened in 2018, alone, led to the creation of 26,000 jobs statewide with compensation totaling $1.03 billion. The total economic impact generated for the state was approximately $4.4 billion.
A list of the recent housing credit awards is available on the TDHCA website.
