Brown Introduces Housing Supply Fund Act to Build More Homes and Lower Housing Costs

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) introduced the Housing Supply Fund Act, legislation to encourage the building of more affordable housing by filling financing gaps that are holding back construction. The Housing Supply Fund Act establishes a competitive grant program within Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) to address financing gaps that prevent otherwise viable housing projects from moving forward.

The Housing Supply Fund is part of Brown’s Safe and Affordable Housing Agenda, a comprehensive legislative package to build more affordable housing to lower costs, and preserve HUD-assisted affordable housing, and strengthen lead paint and pipe abatement. 

“The Housing Supply Fund Act is about one thing: building new homes across America. We need to build new homes. We need new homes to lower prices, expand homeownership, and give families a place to call home. I’m proud to introduce this legislation to get shovels in the ground and units built. We need to use every tool we have to lower housing costs, and that includes new grants for homebuilding within the CDFI program. The need is real. Families are feeling the squeeze. We need to lower rents and housing costs, and help more families own a home,” said Congresswoman Shontel Brown. 

In Brown’s e-newsletter this month, constituents were asked “How do you feel about housing costs in Northeast Ohio?” Of the hundreds of responses to the survey to date, 83% answered that “Housing Costs are Too High”. Only 4% answered that “Housing is Affordable.” 

The Housing Supply Fund Act is endorsed by the Mortgage Bankers Association; National Association of Realtors; Ohio Bankers’ League; Ohio CDFI Network; CDFI Coalition; Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio (COHHIO); Enterprise Community Partners; Housing Partnership Network (HPN); Local Initiatives Services Corporation (LISC); Low-Income Investment Fund (LIIF); and The Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI), and the Ohio Credit Union League.

The United States faces a housing gap of millions of homes, with estimates ranging from 1 to 5 million homes. The housing gap for affordability is even larger, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that America has a shortage of over 7 million units that are affordable for low-income renters. 

The Housing Supply Fund Act authorizes flexible financing tools including loan loss reserves, revolving loan funds, guarantees, risk-sharing loans, and affordable housing mortgage funds to support the development, preservation, rehabilitation, financing, or purchase of housing while leveraging private and local capital.

“LIIF applauds Representative Shontel Brown for her leadership in introducing the Housing Supply Fund Act, a critical investment in our nation’s affordable housing supply. By providing flexible resources to CDFIs and nonprofit housing organizations, this legislation will empower mission-driven lenders to create, preserve, and finance affordable homes that meet the needs of local communities. The Housing Supply Fund Act recognizes the essential role that community-focused organizations like the Low Income Investment Fund play in expanding affordable housing and economic opportunity, and we look forward to working with policymakers and partners to advance this important legislation,” said Mindy Binderman, Chief External Affairs Officer, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF)

“The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) thanks Representative Brown for introducing the Housing Supply Fund Act. LISC Cleveland has seen firsthand the growing affordable housing challenges in our community, which is why we’ve been focused on scaling our housing supply investments. This legislation would provide flexible housing resources that mission-based housing organizations can leverage with other funding to meet local needs. We thank Representative Brown for her leadership on this bill and for recognizing that more is needed to solve our city’s affordable housing challenges,” said Kandis Williams, Executive Director, LISC Cleveland.

“MBA is proud to support the Housing Supply Fund Act, a thoughtful proposal designed for its efforts to expand housing production and increase access to affordable housing financing by more effectively utilizing CDFIs and mission-driven lenders,” said Bill Killmer, SVP Legislative and Political Affairs.

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