Employer-assisted housing is announced by Whitmer

By Rachel Greco

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Employer-assisted housing is announced by Whitmer

Expanding affordable housing remains a top priority for Michigan Democrats, who are working to strengthen a variety of state-funded housing programs.

Among these, the state recently announced plans to invest at least $10 million in workforce housing.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority will work with employers to implement the Employer-Assisted Housing program.

“Employers that contribute matching funds – whether through cash investments, land donation, a below-market interest loan, or some combination thereof – may qualify for resources through the fund to help develop new housing options,” according to the state’s press release.

The funds will be eligible for construction projects as well as “innovative programmatic approaches to housing opportunities such as down payment assistance.”

The program was funded by this year’s state budget appropriations, but a news release stated that additional funding may be forthcoming from the legislature.

The program does have some guidelines for employees, including the requirement that any rental housing built through the program be “affordable” for at least ten years, and for-sale housing be “affordable” for five years.

Employers contribute money to a “housing equity fund,” which then invests in housing developments.

One such program is Cinnaire’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Investments, which has raised $2.2 billion since 1986 to “support the creation or preservation of 5,870 affordable homes in Michigan.” That amounts to $374,787 per home.

While in office, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has prioritized the expansion of affordable housing.

She announced this specific housing program during her speech at the Northern Michigan Policy Conference on Friday.

“The Employer-Assisted Housing Fund will bring businesses, local government, developers, and MSHDA together to build housing for employees,” according to Whitmer. “If we want people to move to our communities for work, they need affordable housing options nearby.

I’m excited to see new partnerships formed so that we can work together to build a lot more housing, grow local businesses, and increase our population.”

Michigan has declared its housing crisis to be “acute,” with the National Low Income Housing Coalition reporting a 190,000 rental home shortage that is affordable and available to extremely low-income renters.

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Rachel Greco

Rachel Greco covers life in US County, including the communities of Grand Ledge, Delta Township, Charlotte and US Rapids. But her beat extends to local government, local school districts and community events in communities that surround Lansing. Her goal is to tell compelling stories about the area that matter to local readers.

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