HUD Announces New $174 Million National Housing Trust Fund

"The federal government debuted a program on Monday to provide housing for the very poorest residents in America," according to an article by Kriston Capps. "The National Housing Trust Fund is a new affordable-housing program, one that creates permanently affordable housing for extremely low-income households."

Julián Castro, secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced the program, which will allocate funding totaling $174 million earlier this week. Capps breaks down the vital statistics in a list of "everything you need to know." Included among the list:

The fund's modest allocation of $174 million probably won't go very far. "Still, these are funds geared toward creating new and permanently affordable housing for very-low-income and extremely-low-income residents—people who are at great risk of falling through the cracks," adds Capps.

The National Housing trust Fund is unique in that it targets extremely-low-income or very-low-income households. These "Worst case housing needs" are a growing segment of the U.S. housing market.

The National Housing trust Fund is designed to complement inclusionary zoning, writes Capps, by creating new housing, not rehabbing existing housing.

Capps also notes the political opposition to the National Housing trust Fund, especially the work of two Republican congressmen who tried but failed to prevent the new program. On the other end of the political spectrum, President Obama called for $1 billion in funding for a National Housing trust Fund in 2014.

More information on the National Housing Trust Fund is available on the National Low Income Housing Coalition website.