NHC

Better living environments promote better health, and partnerships between housing and health care practitioners could mean improved outcomes for low-income individuals and families. Three new case studies released today by the National Housing Conference’s Center for Housing Policy highlight promising examples of how housing and health collaborations can improve the overall health and wellbeing of low-income individuals and families, while decreasing environmental hazards, emergency room visits, and overall health care costs

Homelessness in America is a profound demonstration of our country’s failure to ensure safe, decent and affordable housing for all. Whether the people experiencing homelessness are adults or children, whether they are doubled up or living on the streets, public policy should address their needs. Only in recent years has public policy to end homelessness begun to show consistent results through a carefully targeted use of a housing first model.

On June 23, the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations subcommittee reported out an FY 2016 THUD funding bill that demonstrates how budget caps are forcing short-term cuts with long-term consequences. While NHC understands the budget constraints facing the subcommittee, the cuts to vital housing investments in this bill are deep and damaging.  We call on Congress to forge a bipartisan compromise on spending that would allow essential long-term investments in housing and many other areas of need.

The younger and longer a child experiences homelessness, the greater the cumulative toll of negative health outcomes, which can have lifelong effects on the child, the family and the community. This is the key finding from a research brief out today from Children’s HealthWatch and the Center for Housing Policy at the National Housing Conference, “Compounding Stress: The Timing and Duration Effects of Homelessness on Children’s Health.”

Recent changes to Medicaid and implementation of the Affordable Care Act mean more support for the social and preventive health needs of low-income individuals. A new report released today by NHC’s Center for Housing Policy,Affordable Housing’s Place in Medicaid Reform: Opportunities Created by the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Reform, examines the ways health care changes created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and earlier Medicaid reforms have created the potential for affordable housing providers to collaborate with health care providers, insurers and other institutions to support the wellbeing of low-income and vulnerable individuals and families.

Safe, affordable homes aren’t stocked at your local pharmacy, but a new review of the research shows the vital role of an affordable home in our health. The Impacts of Affordable Housing on Health: A Research Summary, released today by NHC’s Center for Housing Policy, shows that affordable housing is an important social determinant of health and can be key to improving health and wellbeing of children, adults and older adults

On March 24, HUD Secretary Julian Castro testified a second time before the House Appropriations Transportation and Housing and Urban Development subcommittee on the president’s FY 2016 HUD budget request.

The continuing economic recovery has improved housing affordability slightly for low- and moderate-income working households, but housing costs continue to increase for renters, according to a new report released today by the Center for Housing Policy at the National Housing Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 28, 2015 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Housing Conference applauds President Obama's choice to highlight housing issues in his speeches leading up to the State of the Union address and in connecting to those same themes in the address itself. Getting housing policy right is essential to keeping our economy on a path of recovery coming out of the great recession and to ensuring that all in America can achieve a brighter future

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 12, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Housing Conference welcomes President Obama’s announcement today that the Federal Housing Administration will charge homebuyers less for its mortgage insurance. For several years now, FHA has had historically high premiums to restore capital to its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Now that the fund is in a stronger position, it is wise policy to lower the premiums to reduce costs for homeowners and make FHA mortgages more competitive without exposing FHA to significant additional risk

ASHINGTON - October 24, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Housing Conference (NHC) welcomes the actions by federal regulators to finalize the risk retention rules, specifically the exemption for qualified residential mortgages (QRM). With mortgage credit still far too restricted, clarity on the QRM is essential to get housing markets moving in the right direction and allow families to get into their first homes. NHC applauds regulators for their hard work over the past several years and for their foresight in aligning the QRM with the qualified mortgage rule that is already in place

WASHINGTON - September 25, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The number of health worker jobs is growing as the health sector expands to meet rising demand. But despite the strength of this sector, many health workers cannot afford housing in metro areas across the country. In the 2014 edition of Paycheck to Paycheck, Janet Viveiros and Lisa Sturtevant draw on data from the first quarter of 2014 to reveal the gap between wages in health sector jobs and the costs to rent or buy a home in 210 metro areas across the nation

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 13, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Toxic stress resulting from persistent poverty, trauma and social bias can hijack brain functions and lead to behavior patterns that may impede individuals’ economic progress. How can public housing authorities (PHAs) use this information to design economic self-sufficiency programs that accommodate the needs of affected residents and reduce reliance on public assistance? A new report applies lessons from behavioral and cognitive science to give PHAs new insight into programs that can support residents’ economic progress

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 16, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Housing Conference (NHC) applauds the action of the Senate Banking Committee, which approved the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform legislation S. 1217 today for consideration by the full Senate. We thank Senators Corker (R-Tenn.) and Warner (D-Va.) for starting this effort, Chairman Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Crapo (R-Idaho) for carrying it forward, and the many other legislators from both parties who worked on and supported it. The bill addresses squarely the most pressing challenge in housing today: replacing the unsustainable patchwork left over from the financial crisis with a housing finance system that protects taxpayers, ensures widespread availability of mortgages, and creates housing opportunity for all

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Recent attack ads from the 60 Plus Association use scare tactics to get in the way of the housing finance reform that we need to create housing opportunities for Americans. The ads attack senators who have supported the Senate Banking Committee’s bipartisan legislative proposal from Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Crapo, which winds down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and lays out a path to a new, stronger housing finance system that combines a necessary government backstop with regulation and competitive private capital participation all aiming to provide broad access to affordable homeownership and rental homes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Baby Boom generation ages, the number of older adults living in America will double by 2050, with nearly 19 million of those adults age 85 or older. While the needs of this older adult population continue to grow and change, the current paradigm of care—institutional settings like nursing homes and assisted living facilities—is an inflexible and expensive way of caring for older adults with physical limitations or chronic health conditions. According to a new report, Aging in Every Place: Supportive Service Programs for High and Low Density Communities, home- and community-based services are a cost-effective strategy that can solve this challenge by helping older adults maintain their quality of life as they age in their homes, whether those homes are in cities, suburbs, or rural America

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 13, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today’s announcement by Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) of their agreement on housing finance reform is a positive step in the ongoing work to mold a new future for housing finance in America

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 19, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The continuing economic recovery has improved housing affordability for low- and moderate-income working households, but housing costs are still a significant burden, especially to renters, according to a new report released today by the Center for Housing Policy, the research division of the National Housing Conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 4, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Metropolitan housing markets have not yet emerged from the foreclosure crisis, according to a new report from the Urban Institute, National Housing Conference (NHC), and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Foreclosure activity has declined in recent years, but metropolitan foreclosure rates are still well above historic norms and there is substantial variation across the country. Among large metro markets, foreclosure rates are falling slowly and steadily in some, but foreclosure activity may not yet have peaked in others.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 30, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the State of the Union address, President Obama offered a domestic agenda focused on expanding opportunity for all. The National Housing Conference (NHC) believes that safe, decent and affordable housing for all in America is an essential part of expanding opportunity.