New data shows communities have dedicated nearly $63 billion of program funds on housing projects across three American Rescue Plan programs; the largest State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund recipients have budgeted 85% of total resources, and total projects are up 18% over first quarter of 2023
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a fact sheet detailing how state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments are leveraging their awards from three American Rescue Plan programs – the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), and the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA)1 Program – to expand access to affordable housing and significantly improve housing stability across the country. As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, this fact sheet includes new data on how these programs have helped keep more families in their homes through effective eviction and foreclosure prevention efforts, while also expanding our supply of affordable housing. New data released today shows that, through Q2 2023, nearly $63 billion of funds across SLFRF, HAF, and ERA programs have been dedicated to housing projects, demonstrating how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has made significant investments in supporting existing homeowners and renters, as well as helping more Americans maintain housing stability.
Alongside today’s new data, the Treasury Department is releasing a new playbook illustrating how states and localities can use remaining resources across these programs to augment efforts and support affordable housing broadly.
Today’s announcements highlight how the Treasury Department has encouraged communities to address housing needs by making innovative use of American Rescue Plan funds. These Treasury Department-led programs have complemented Administration-wide efforts to help families across the country remain in their homes, including increased options for mortgage payment forbearance, enhanced loan modifications to resolve delinquencies, and a foreclosure moratorium. The combination of these Administration programs has resulted in historically low foreclosure and eviction rates. According to Black Knight data, August 2023 foreclosure starts were still 13% below pre-pandemic levels. And according to the Eviction Lab, COVID-era policies cut eviction filings by more than half. A new White House fact sheet detailing the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in affordable housing and homeownership is available here.
New data through Q2 2023 shows that state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments have effectively leveraged American Rescue Plan resources to help more households stay in their homes now and in the future.
Providing more Americans with access to affordable housing is a key goal for both the Treasury Department and across the Biden-Harris Administration. The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program is driving investments at every level of government to create new and improve existing affordable housing stock. The Treasury Department has made an intentional effort to encourage jurisdictions to consider using their SLFRF funds to support housing stability and the construction and preservation of new affordable housing. In the summer of 2022, the Department expanded the flexibility for recipients to use their SLFRF funds to invest in long-term affordable housing projects. Just over a year later, governments have dedicated more than $6.6 billion in SLFRF award funds towards long-term affordable housing, including both rental and owned homes, through June 30, 2023. This $6.6 billion, an approximately 10% increase in funds allocated in this area since Q1 2023, is supporting more than 17,000 units of affordable housing.
Many governments are using SLFRF award funds to supplement other American Rescue Plan programs aiding renters and homeowners, including the Homeowners Assistance Fund and Emergency Rental Assistance program. In fact, some communities are using their remaining ERA funds on projects which aim to expand access to affordable housing. Through Q2 2023, ERA recipients have begun at least 26 affordable rental housing projects across the country have begun at least 26 affordable rental housing projects across the country.
Examples of recipients leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to expand access to affordable housing:
The pandemic resulted in families across the country struggling to pay their housing expenses. Many fell behind on their rent or mortgage. At the end of 2020, nearly a fifth of renting households reported being behind on rent. And many analysts feared foreclosure rates would skyrocket, as they did following the Great Recession.
The more than $46 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funding created the first nationwide infrastructure for eviction prevention, delivering federal relief to millions of households and enabling communities to set up eviction diversion programs – many for the first time.
Communities are also helping keep families in their homes by aiding the high costs associated with homeownership. As of Q2 2023, HAF recipients have spent $5.5 billion to assist homeowners with past due mortgage balances, utilities, and other qualified expenses related to mortgages and housing. Moreover, HAF funds have been expended on costs such as home repair, lien extinguishments, and mortgage payment assistance. By reducing homeowners’ monthly payments, preserving the habitability of existing homes, and making housing more affordable for the beneficiaries of this assistance, the Treasury Department’s HAF program has ensured that many homeowners can remain in an affordable home. As recipients make budgeting plans for remaining funding, many HAF recipients are exploring additional ways to help more homeowners avoid displacement.
Across the country, state and local governments are using resources from these two programs – along with SLFRF resources – in innovative and complimentary ways to meet the diverse housing needs of their communities. Examples of recipients leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to keep families in their homes:
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1. Treasury administers two separate ERA programs, ERA1 and ERA2: the ERA1 program is authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and provided $25 billion for assistance to eligible households. The ERA1 program ended in late 2022. The ERA2 program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and provides $21.55 billion for assistance to eligible households. The ERA2 program remains ongoing. ERA1 and ERA2 funds were provided directly to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, certain local governments, and, in the case of ERA1 only, Indian Tribes or their Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs), and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL). The total amounts of ERA funds referenced may reflect ERA1 award funds in effort to showcase how these entities continued their ERA programs by using their ERA2 awards authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act to maximize the assistance for eligible households.
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