Expanding programs that enable renters to become first time homebuyers would grow the housing supply as a part of the solution to the housing crisis, according to Jamie A. Smarr, President and CEO of the non-profit NYC Housing Partnership Development Corporation.
Smarr points to “New York’s HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program, which provides up to $100,000 in the form of a forgivable loan to qualifying first time homebuyers, which can serve as a national model.”
“This innovative program is aimed at first time buyers of 1- through 4-family homes, condominiums or cooperative apartments, whose household income does not exceed 120 percent of area median income.” Smarr said.
He called for the federal government and other states and municipalities “to roll out and promote similar programs to enable renters to become homeowners, which strengthens the economic and social fabric of their communities.”
“Like residents in most large cities, New Yorkers overwhelmingly reside in rental apartments. The ability of renters to buy homes for the first time expands access to housing, making it part of the solution to the housing shortage,” said Smarr.
The HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program provides up to $100,000 in the form of a forgivable loan to qualifying first time buyers of 1- through 4-family homes, condominiums or cooperative apartments. New York State programs add additional financial support for first-time homeowners with a household income that does not exceed 120 percent of area median income.
To draw attention to this valuable program, the NYC Housing Partnership’s annual Affordable Housing Expo attracts over 1,000 attendees seeking information on down payment assistance that is available for their first home purchase.
“The HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program should be more energetically promoted by the city and state through a multi-language public service ad campaign using a full array of broadcast, cable, digital and print media, to generate greater awareness of — and demand for — the program. Banks offering residential mortgages should market the HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program through their advertising, websites and social media, in-branch signage and staff training,” Smarr said.
On the supply side, he said builders and contractors should be encouraged to produce affordable one- through four-family homes for middle-income first-time homebuyers. A new Build the Dream program could offer specific meaningful incentives to home builders such as:
• Access to low interest construction financing
• Identifying underutilized city- and state-owned parcels that are too small or oddly shaped for large multifamily construction, but well suited for individual homes, and these sites could be sold at favorable terms to builders.
• Sales tax relief on construction materials
• Hiring bonuses for employing construction workers residing in the communities in which the new homes are located
“Build the Dream would also create new opportunities for small businesses and minority-owned firms, while expanding construction trades training and employment opportunities in our communities,” Smarr said.
“On a national scale, this requires productive collaboration among state and local legislative bodies, Governors and Mayors, nonprofit affordable housing advocates, the private sector and banks and other lenders to quickly increase access to affordable, safe and comfortable homes. Let’s achieve the dream of affordable home ownership,” said Smarr.
For more than four decades the nonprofit NYC Housing Partnership has led relationships among private sector developers and financial institutions and City, state and federal agencies that created and preserved nearly 100,000 low and moderate-income housing units in the five boroughs, leveraging over $11.1 billion in private financing and utilizing more than $550 million in subsidies for affordable housing.
