HUD Expands FHA Mortgage Insurance to Build-to-Rent Communities: Single-Family Rental Developments Can Qualify as Multifamily
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance program will be expanded to build-to-rent communities, allowing qualifying single-family rental developments to be insured as multifamily projects. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the new policy on October 21, and Inside Mortgage Finance followed up on October 23.
Under the previous rules, FHA multifamily insurance largely covered buildings with four or more units under one roof. Build-to-rent communities, which have grown rapidly in recent years, are typically built as single-family or townhome layouts rented as one professionally managed property, and their structure kept them outside the traditional multifamily definition. Under the new policy, a build-to-rent community with five or more homes on a single contiguous site, professionally managed to multifamily standards, can be insured as a multifamily project.
The communities must also meet the same Fair Housing Act accessibility standards that apply to multifamily housing. HUD said expanding insurance coverage is intended to lower financing barriers for build-to-rent projects and encourage developers to add more rental housing supply.
"America needs more affordable housing," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said, adding that the federal government is working to support new supply by reducing financing obstacles.
Source: GSM·America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国住房与城市发展部（HUD）总部 Robert C. Weaver 联邦大楼。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（美国住房与城市发展部供图，公共领域）。 / Photo: The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, via Wikimedia Commons (HUD photo, public domain).
