Washington D.C. – May 7, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today applauded the historic investment made by the Obama Administration to help build new affordable housing stock in hard-hit communities by including $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Schumer, who co-authored the legislation that created the new trust fund, said this critical investment will help rebuild and revitalize low-income communities by providing funds for the construction of rental housing to extremely low-income families.
“The National Housing Trust Fund is a critical component of the federal government’s efforts to ensure that all Americans have safe and affordable places to live. Across the country, it is becoming more and more difficult for middle and low income families to afford the rising cost of rents and the economic downturn has only made that an even more difficult endeavor. This is historic investment will help ensure that there is a high quality, affordable rental housing in New York and across the country.”
Schumer today said cost of decent and safe, privately-owned rental housing is simply out of reach for too many working families and their children. In 2005, a record 37.3 million households paid more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, according to the Nation’s Housing 2007 Report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. More than 17 million paid more than half their incomes on housing costs. Police officers, firefighters, teachers, janitors, and other full-time workers now have trouble affording even modest rental housing.
The Trust Fund established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221) would provide funds for the production of rental housing to extremely low-income families.
President Obama today unveiled his Fiscal Year 2010 budget.
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