Permanent Housing Affordability Act

The bill defines key terms such as “community land trust,” “shared equity homeownership model,” and “qualified homebuyer.” These models use long-lasting rules, such as 99‑year ground leases or deed restrictions, to keep homes affordable for low- and moderate-income households, and they limit resale prices using a set formula. Section 3 creates the “Lasting Home Affordability Fund” at the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury Secretary would give grants to certain state agencies and certified community development financial institutions. These grantees must set up revolving funds that provide low‑interest construction loans (at 3 percent interest or less, with low fees) to local governments and nonprofits that run shared-equity homeownership programs. The loans must support building or fixing homes that will be sold as primary residences to income-qualified buyers, with long-term resale and affordability limits. The program must focus on a mix of areas across the country, including high-cost, persistently poor, underserved, and rural areas, and grantees must submit detailed annual reports. The bill authorizes $100 million for this section for fiscal year 2027. Section 4 directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a “Lasting Affordability Homeownership Grant” pilot program. HUD would give grants directly to eligible local governments and nonprofits so they can buy vacant land, existing homes, or predeveloped land, then develop or renovate homes to sell to income‑qualified buyers or limited‑equity cooperative members. Homes must generally be sold within three years of the land or property purchase (with some allowed extensions) and must remain permanently affordable through legal tools like ground leases and resale formulas. Household income is capped at 80 percent of area median income, or 120 percent in rural areas. HUD and grantees must report on results. The bill authorizes $100 million per year from 2027 through 2031, and up to 10 percent of that may be used for technical assistance. Section 5 requires HUD’s research office to study and share best practices for community land trusts and other shared-equity models, and to fund organizations that provide technical help and capacity building to state, local, Tribal, and nonprofit partners. It also requires HUD to run public awareness and outreach campaigns to explain shared‑equity models to the public, homebuyers, lenders, and real estate professionals, and to coordinate with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This section authorizes $3 million per year from 2027 to 2029 for public awareness and “such sums as may be necessary” for research and outreach, along with yearly reporting to Congress. Section 6 changes federal property law to let the government convey surplus federal land at a steep discount to community land trusts and other shared‑equity homeownership programs. The property must be kept in shared‑equity use permanently, or it can revert back to the federal government. HUD must discount the sale or lease price by at least 75 percent of market value, and possibly more if justified, to reflect the benefit to the government of using the land for long-term affordable housing. HUD must report each year on how many surplus properties were used for affordable housing and for shared‑equity models, and the average discounts given.