Skip to main content

Oregon State Flag An official website of the State of Oregon »

Oregon.gov Homepage

ARH Resource and Funding Engagement




OHCS seeks input to change how affordable rental housing resources are deployed to scale up affordable rental housing production across the state. This includes looking at how to use additional resources for the 2023-25 legislative biennium and making key optimizations to how we do business. Below you will find details on how you can engage with us in Fall 2023 to inform the OHCS Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) funding calendar, a new streamlined funding process, and new programs approved in the 2023 state legislative session. 

Notices


Background

As the state's housing finance agency, OHCS distributes funding allocated from state and federal programs for new construction, rehabilitation, and preservations of affordable rental housing statewide.  OHCS currently manages upwards of fifteen active development funding programs including but not limited to 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), 4% LIHTC, Private Activity Bond Conduit Loans, HOME, National Housing Trust Funds (HTF), Local Innovation & Fast Track (LIFT), Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), General Housing Account Program (GHAP), Housing Development Grant Program (HDGP), Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit (OAHTC), Agricultural Worker Housing Tax Credit (AgWHTC), Veterans GHAP, and Oregon Rural Rehabilitation (ORR).

OHCS funding processes have evolved over time in response to feedback from our development partners and other funding jurisdictions.  Our current fund offerings are delivered through Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA).

Funding Considerations:

  • Funding individual projects generally requires layering federal and state resources, each with their own complex requirements, along with the resources of other public funders, private lenders and investors.  Resources through OHCS, with the guidance and direction form the state legislature and Oregon Housing Stability Council, are prioritized based on scoring intended to determine the projects that best meet the agency and program policy priorities.              
  • State funded projects generally include a minimum of 60-year affordability.  This means that the developments we fund must have long term viability; with that in mind, our financial modeling requires a long-term look, careful assessment of resource use, and rigor around physical rehab standards. These practices have continued evolve with the goal of incorporating lessons learned to ensure tenant safety and long-term viability.
  • A typical competitive NOFA timeline will allow 75-days for developers to complete and submit an application and two months for internal review and scoring before submitting for approvals from the Housing Stability Council.  This means an average of 6 months from the publishing of a NOFA to formalizing a funding reservation.  After funding reservation, projects then must move forward to accomplish needed due diligence items, which can take another 9-18 months before they are ready with complete financing, architectural, and building permits.  This timeline brings vulnerabilities to maintaining balanced sources and uses in a volatile cost market. 
Why we need your input

With Governor Kotek's Executive Order on Affordable Housing (EO 23-04) to increase the rate of production and overwhelming support in affordable housing investments during the 2023 legislative session including $721 million to address supply solutions, OHCS ARH is working to reposition and update and streamline the process by which funds are requested and allocated.  The scale of resources allocated for the biennium mandates that we do business differently and align funding processes with Governor Kotek's Housing Supply Goals.  We are engaging to inform funding process updates and to get input into how we program the use of available development funds. 

How will engagement work?

ARH has planned a series of meetings August 2023 through November 2023.  Each meeting will cover a topic or a set of related topics (outlined below).  The objective is to gain insight and perspective from business partners and stakeholders to inform the development of a framework for future funding opportunities by the end of 2023.  ARH Leadership will provide Housing Stability Council with monthly updates and opportunities for direction throughout the engagement series.

Goals for the future of funding opportunities are:

  1. Centralized application process
  2. Funding closer to shovel ready
  3. Streamlined policy objectives and set asides for funding sources
Engagement series schedule

Meeting materials

Meeting materials that include topical background and key questions that will be focused on within each engagement will be posted and sent through Technical Advisory emails before each of the Thursday meeting times.  Following each meeting, OHCS will post a meeting recording on the OHCS YouTube and a draft synthesis of the discussion. Surveys will be used to collect additional input on the topic and offer opportunity for partners unable to participate in the meeting. Once all feedback is received and incorporated, a final synthesis for each topic will be available on the ARH Website.