Fannie Offers ‘Healthy Housing’ Incentive
Mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae launched a healthy housing reward initiative that offers financial awards to multifamily borrowers who provide services that improve the health and well-being of tenants living in affordable housing. These services could range from day care and food access to youth and education programming and job training.
The program, dubbed Enhanced Resident Services, includes a lower borrowing rate for purchasers who participate. The program is part of Fannie Mae’s Healthy Housing Rewards initiative, which aims to advance sustainable communities and the availability of affordable housing by encouraging multifamily borrowers to improve design features and services that improve residents’ health and stability.
“We believe that the strength of an affordable rental housing property is directly linked to the health and stability of the people and families who live there,” says Bob Simpson, vice president of affordable and green financing at Fannie Mae. “Affordable borrowers have recognized the value of providing enhanced resident services at their properties for years, but have been constrained by the inability to ensure a long-term source of financial support. By participating in our Healthy Housing Rewards program, borrowers will save between $15,000 and $75,000 per year. Amounts saved can be used to offset resident services costs at their property for the life of the loan—thus ensuring that the low-income residents who live there have access to health, education, and other community services.”
For the program, Fannie Mae is teaming up with Stewards for Affordable Housing for the Future, a nonprofit multistate group of affordable housing providers that offers compliance certifications for borrowers and the multifamily affordable housing property.
To qualify for the program, at least 60 percent of the units in multifamily properties seeking the pricing incentive must serve residents earning 60 percent of average median income or less. The program officially started Jan. 15.
Source: Fannie Mae
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, January 18, 2018
