Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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As detailed below, based on multiple public comments and questions and Treasury's subsequent analysis, Treasury has determined that supportive housing or other programs or services to improve access to stable, affordable housing among individuals who are homeless, and the development of affordable housing to increase supply of affordable and high -quality living units are responsive to the needs of impacted populations, not only disproportionately impacted populations. This final rule reflects this clarification and builds on the objectives stated in the interim final rule to improve access to stable, affordable housing, including through interventions that increase the supply of affordable and high -quality living units, improve housing security, and support durable and sustainable homeownership. Finally, note that "emergency housing assistance," or assistance for responses to the immediate negative economic impacts of the pandemic through services like financial assistance for rental arrears or mortgage payments, is also an eligible use category for assistance to households under the final rule; see the eligible use for "emergency housing assistance" above. The provision of housing vouchers and assistance relocating to neighborhoods with higher levels of economic opportunity remains an eligible use under assistance to disproportionately impacted households; for discussion, see the eligible use for "housing vouchers and assistance relocating" below. Background: Affordable Housing: It is clear that the ongoing pandemic and resulting economic crisis are having a profound, long-term negative effect on the pre-existing affordable housing crisis facing low-income households.152 The combination of a large number of higher - income households who have weathered the pandemic without significant income losses, low interest rates, and housing supply constraints exacerbated by the pandemic, have driven a sharp 152 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Housing insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_Housing_insecurity_and_the_COVID-19 pandemic.pdf. 103