Advocates alarmed over proposed cuts to workforce housing loan program
Commerce Street Apartments will be adjacent to Elizabeth Street Apartments shown here. (Photo: Greg Childress)
North Carolina housing advocates are sounding the alarm over proposed cuts to the Workforce Housing Loan Program (WHLP) administered by the N.C. Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) in combination with federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
The state Senate's version of the FY 25-27 budget does not include funding for WHLP. The House version allocates $5 million for one year of the two-year biennium. Gov. Josh Stein's spending plan calls for $30 million in non-recurring funding for the WHLP. The previous budget included $35 million in non-recurring program funding.
The WHLP was created to help 'construct or substantially rehabilitate' multi-family affordable housing units. The money is used in combination with federal low-income housing tax credits to provide gap funding to make affordable housing development financially feasible in difficult-to-serve markets. The WHLP has financed thousands of apartments for seniors, families and members of the state's workforce across 59 counties since it was created 10 years ago.
The proposed program cuts come as the need for affordable housing grows across the state, members of the N.C. Housing Coalition said last week.
'Without the WHLP, many developments would not be possible, especially in rural areas,' a coalition spokesperson said during its weekly housing call. 'As construction and development costs continue to rise, cuts to this program could shutter much needed investments into the construction and preservation of affordable homes across the state.'
The coalition is urging housing advocates and others across the state to contact members of the House Appropriations Committee and urge them to protect and restore the WHLP to $35 million.
'This is an existing program that works, and we already know it works, and it does a really wonderful job of leveraging public funds with private dollars,' said Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, the coalition's director of housing policy. 'If there's ever a time to not cut housing investments, this is the time.'
Watkins-Cruz noted that the program is structured so that Tier 1 counties are eligible for up to $3 million in funding. Tier 1 counties are the most economically distressed among the state's three tiers.
Several counties in the 2025 Qualified Allocation Plan are in eastern North Carolina. Several are also on the list of disaster-impacted counties from Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. They include Alexander, Graham, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, and Wilkes counties.
To see the full list of counties in each tier, click here to visit the 2025 Final QAP. See page 8 for county award limits.
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