The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents regular information and data on USDA’s rural housing loan and grant obligation activity.

USDA Multi-Family Fair Housing Occupancy Report FY 2023

/in

USDA’s annual data for tenants living in Section 515 rental and Section 514 farmworker housing shows that, as of October 2023, the average income for all Section 515 households is $16,047. Just over 88 percent of USDA rental households receive some sort of rental assistance, most commonly Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA). The average income of the 76 percent of Section 515 households receiving RA is $13,696. As has been the case for many years, about two-thirds of the units are occupied by individuals who identify as elderly or disabled. Demographic and economic data for the portfolio are aggregated by state as well as at the national level.

USDA Rural Development Housing Activity Report - FY 2023

USDA Rural Development Housing Activity Report – Fiscal Year 2023

/in , , , ,

Since the 1950s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided financial assistance for the construction, repair, and affordability of millions of homes for low- and moderate-income rural residents. USDA accomplishes this activity through its Rural Development (RD) agency. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, USDA obligated roughly 65,500 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $10.6 billion, and over $1.5 billion in Rental Assistance to approximately 228,000 rural renters. The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents a review of most USDA housing resources obligated in Fiscal Year 2023 and their historical trends.

Download the document.

USDA Multi-Family Fair Housing Occupancy Report FY 2022

/in

Characteristics of tenants in Section 515 and 514 properties remained largely the same from October 2021 to October 2022, USDA’s annual data report indicates. There were 3,154 fewer units in 2022 than in 2021, with a decrease of 158 Section 515 properties and 7 Section 514 FLH properties. In 2022, average annual income for all tenants was $15,502, while the average income for those receiving Section 521 Rental Assistance was $12,989. The number of cost-burdened households, which fell dramatically from 41,121 in 2020 to 3,227 in 2021 because the American Rescue Plan Act provided additional RA, rose to 4,975 in 2022.

USDA Rural Development Obligations Cover

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 22- September

/in , , , , ,

HAC presents the FY 22 September USDA Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligations report.*

Download the Spreadsheet.

* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Lance George at 202-842-8600 or lance@ruralhome.org.

USDA Multi-Family Fair Housing Occupancy Report FY 2021

/in

USDA’s annual report on the characteristics of tenants in Section 515 and 514 properties shows that in October 2021 there were 108 fewer Section 515 properties and 25 fewer farm labor housing properties than in 2020, a total reduction of 1,709 units. The average household income rose by 3.78% to $14,665. Tenant households receiving Section 521 Rental Assistance saw a 7.13% increase in income to $12,501. The number of resident households paying more than 30 percent of their income for rent fell sharply from 41,121 in 2020 to 3,227 in 2021. USDA attributed this 92% decrease to the emergency rental assistance funds made available because of the coronavirus pandemic.

USDA Multi-Family Fair Housing Occupancy Report FY 2020

/in

USDA’s annual summary of tenant data shows that characteristics of tenants in USDA’s Section 515 rental and Section 514/516 farmworker housing properties changed very little from September 2019 to September 2020. Average annual income of Section 515 tenants rose from $13,551 in September 2019 to $13,640 in September 2020, while the average income for Section 515 tenants receiving Section 521 Rental Assistance was $11,380 in 2020. About 10.6% of all tenants in USDA’s portfolio remain rent burdened and almost 70% of tenants continue to receive rental assistance of some sort. Elders and people with disabilities comprise 65.3% of Section 515 households.

Fiscal Year 2021 USDA Rural Development Housing Activity Report - Cover

Fiscal Year 2021 USDA Rural Development Housing Activity Report

/in , , , ,

Since the 1950s, USDA has provided financial assistance for the construction, repair, and affordability of millions of homes for low- and moderate-income rural Americans. USDA accomplishes this activity through its Rural Development (RD) agency. In FY 2021, USDA obligated 139,221 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $24.2 billion. Since the first USDA housing loan was made (around 1950), the agency has funded the construction, purchase, or repair of over 5.5 million rural housing units representing $384.1 billion.

Beginning in 1978, USDA also provided funding for rental assistance to help tenants better afford to rent housing in agency-financed multi-family housing units. In FY 2021, USDA obligated 291,455 annual units of tenant assistance representing about $1.54 billion through the combined total of the Section 521 Rental Assistance and the Section 542 Rural Housing Voucher programs. Since the late 1970s, USDA has funded over $28.8 billion for rental assistance and tenant vouchers representing nearly 4.4 million annual units.

Download the document.

USDA Housing Activity Report - Fiscal Year 2021

USDA Rural Development Housing Funding Activity: Fiscal Year 2020 Year-End Report

/in ,

HAC presents an overview of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 USDA Rural Housing program obligation activity in this publication, USDA Rural Development Housing Funding Activity: Fiscal Year 2020 Year-End Report.

Since the 1950s, USDA has provided financial assistance for the construction, repair, and affordability of millions of homes for low- and moderate-income rural Americans. USDA accomplishes this activity through its Rural Development (RD) agency. In FY 2020, USDA obligated 151,876 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $24.5 billion. Since the first USDA housing loan was made (around 1950), the agency has funded the construction, purchase, or repair of nearly 5.4 million rural housing units representing $360.1 billion.

Beginning in 1978, USDA also provided funding for rental assistance to help tenants better afford to rent housing in agency-financed multi-family housing units. In FY 2020, USDA obligated 248,697 annual units of tenant assistance representing about $1.41 billion through the combined total of the Section 521 Rental Assistance and the Section 542 Rural Housing Voucher programs. Since the late 1970s, USDA funded nearly $27.3 billion for rental assistance and tenant vouchers representing nearly 4.1 million annual units.

USDA Program Obligation Final Report - FY 2020
USDA Rural Development Obligations Cover

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 22- February

/in , , , , ,
USDA Rural Development Obligations Report Cover - FY 2021

As of the end of February, USDA obligated 39,285 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $7.0 billion. This is $3.3 billion less than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 60,232 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $10.3 billion.

The agency has been operating under a series of continuing resolutions since the beginning of the fiscal year.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $6.6 billion (35,862 loan guarantees) compared to $9.9 billion (56,221 loan guarantees) last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $324.5 million (1,678 loans), compared to last year’s obligation level of $356.8 million (1,965 loans.) About 27 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented nearly 32 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 638 loans representing $4.1 million. Loan volume was up from this time last year (750 loans representing $4.3 million.) There were also about $7.0 million (1,052 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $7.9 million (1,245 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 8 grants totaling $10.8 million compared to last year’s 6 grants totaling $3.7 million.

Multi-Family Housing Program Highlights

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 29 loan guarantees totaling $76.7 million compared to last year’s 35 loan guarantees ($68.4 million.) The Farm Labor Housing programs funded 4 loans and 1 grant totaling $5,120,000 and $4,000,000 respectively. There were no Farm Labor Housing loans or grants at this time last year. There have been no other loan or grant obligations so far this year

USDA obligated funds for 40,063 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $238.7 million. This compares to about 38,592 units ($219.6 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 2,898 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $14.1 million compared to 1,939 vouchers representing $9.6 million this time last year.

Download the combined document.

* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Michael Feinberg at 202-842-8600 or michael@ruralhome.org.

USDA Rural Development Obligations Cover

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 22- January

/in , , , , ,
USDA Rural Development Obligations Report Cover - FY 2021

As of the end of January, USDA obligated 33,374 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $5.9 billion. This is $2.2 billion more than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 47,476 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $8.1 billion.

The agency has been operating under a series of continuing resolutions since the beginning of the fiscal year.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $5.6 billion (30,597 loan guarantees) up from $7.8 billion (44,318 loan guarantees) last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $264.5 million (1,374 loans), a bit less than last year’s obligation level of $292.3 million (1,623 loans.) About 29 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented nearly 34 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 516 loans representing $3.4 million. This compares to 587 loans representing $3.4 million this time last year. There were also about $5.5 million (848 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $5.7 million (916 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 7 grants totaling $3.9 million up from last year’s 5 grants totaling nearly $3.5 million.

Multi-Family Housing Program Highlights

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 19 loan guarantees totaling about $47.0 million, higher than last year’s 20 loan guarantees ($64.7 million.) The Farm Labor Housing programs funded 3 loans and 1 grant totaling $4.8 million and $4.0 million respectively. There have been no other loan or grant obligations so far this year.

USDA obligated funds for 40,064 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $238.2 million compared to 38,592 units ($219.5 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 2,064 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $9,.9 million compared to 1,675 vouchers representing nearly $8.4 million this time last year.

Download the combined document.

* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Michael Feinberg at 202-842-8600 or michael@ruralhome.org.

GET THE HAC NEWS!

Sign-up for HAC information products

SIGN UP HERE
Link to: Impact

50 Years for Rural America

Over 50 years HAC has worked in every U.S. state and the territories. Learn more about what our work means for rural communities.

Board Portal

Housing Assistance Council   |  1828 L Street. N.W., Suite 505, Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 842-8600  |  (202) 347-3441  |  hac@ruralhome.org

HAC is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.