More units are being lost than created<\/p>\n
The same holds true for affordable units across the state, highlighting the limitations of using those tax credits to create and rehabilitate affordable housing. While the program provides much-needed funding, it is nonrenewable, requiring property owners to file a new application once the credits expire.\n<\/p>\n
By contrast, certain rental subsidies from HUD can be renewed, as long as the owner is a willing partner. That arrangement sat at the heart of the controversy around the ultimate closure of the University City Townhomes in West Philadelphia. After nearly 40 years, the ownership group decided not to renew its contract<\/a> with the federal government, putting it in a position to demolish the townhomes and sell the land.\n<\/p>\n This is partly why many federally supported projects in Pennsylvania\u00a0 \u2014 nearly half \u2014 rely on multiple sources of funding. That gives developers additional resources for construction, but also helps ensure the units remain affordable. For example, some developments are built with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, but also operate with rent subsidies from the federal government.\n<\/p>\n The report comes at a time when more federally assisted units are on track to lose their affordability restrictions in Pennsylvania than new units are being built using these subsidies.\n <\/p>\n According to the report, between 2013 and 2022, just over 12,528 federally supported units were developed across the state. Between 2027 and 2036, 43,301 units are facing expiring affordability restrictions.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMany of them will renew or refinance, and that\u2019s what we really want to make sure we\u2019re doing with these units. But there is a risk that we would be losing more units than we are potentially creating, and I think that\u2019s the giant fear,\u201d said Bryce Maretzki, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency\u2019s director of policy and planning.\n<\/p>\n