RALEIGH—Federal tax credits and other financing awarded in 2024 will build more than $1.1 billion in affordable apartments in 25 North Carolina counties. The work is expected to support 16,900 jobs and generate $73.3 million in state and local tax revenue.
Tax credits and tax-exempt bonds, including bond awards from January and June 2024, were approved for 50 projects by the North Carolina Federal Tax Reform Allocation Committee, based on recommendations from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which administers the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
“The LIHTC Program is essential for creating and maintaining affordable housing across North Carolina” said Scott Farmer, executive director of the NC Housing Finance Agency. “"These apartment homes will strengthen our communities by providing much-needed affordable housing options for working families and seniors.”
The funding will produce 4,211 privately owned and managed affordable apartments. These include 3,631 apartments for families and 580 for seniors. At least 420 of the apartments will be targeted for people with disabilities. The new awards will bring the number of Housing Credit apartments in the state to more than 128,900.
Twenty-eight properties were awarded $37 million from the Workforce Housing Loan Program, which was established by the NC General Assembly in 2014 to encourage development of Housing Credit apartments in low-income counties and reduce rents in moderate- and high-income counties. Agency loans totaling more than $17.5 million were awarded to 17 properties under the Rental Production Program which uses state and federal funds to improve economic feasibility for rental developments.
In 2024, the Golden LEAF Foundation, which provides funding to increase economic opportunity in rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities in North Carolina, provided up to $6 million to support the development of new construction family properties in designated counties. Two properties received a combined $4 million under the Golden LEAF Affordable Workforce Housing Initiative, which is provided as a 30-year deferred loan at 0% interest.
The NC Housing Finance Agency evaluates tax credit applications on behalf of the NC Federal Tax Reform Allocation Committee. The highly competitive program, which received 60 full applications this year, uses a quantitative ranking system and includes independent market studies of each property and site visits by Agency staff. New construction proposals were ranked on a point system. Points were awarded for site characteristics, design quality, affordability and other published criteria. Rehabilitation proposals were evaluated based on criteria primarily relating to the need for repair, extent of the proposed improvements and positive impact on the tenants’ quality of life.
The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is a self-supporting public agency that provides safe, affordable housing opportunities to enhance the quality of life of North Carolinians. Since its creation by the General Assembly, the Agency has financed more than 310,700 affordable homes and apartments, totaling $31.9 billion. To learn more about the Agency and its programs, visit www.HousingBuildsNC.com.
