The U.S. Senate on Jan. 23 unanimously passed a bipartisan bill offered by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) that would extend the term of rural housing site loans and clarify the permissible uses of such loans.
S. 3646, which Sen. Moran introduced with lead original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for action.
“I urge the House of Representatives to quickly pass this legislation to alleviate housing shortages in rural America,” Sen. Moran said.
If enacted, S. 3646 would extend the loan window for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Section 524 Rural Housing Site Loans program, which provides loans to nonprofits and local and tribal governments to acquire and develop land to be subdivided into building sites for low- and moderate-income families.
Specifically, S. 3646 would extend the loan repayment window from two years to five years, increasing flexibility for borrowers, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Moran’s staff.
“Housing shortages are impacting rural communities and hurting their ability to grow and expand,” said Sen. Moran. “Modernizing the USDA rural housing site development loans will help incentivize new construction. By giving local governments and nonprofits more flexibility to repay these loans, we can help bolster affordable housing in rural America.”
The bill is supported by the American Planning Association, the Housing Assistance Council, the National Rural Housing Coalition, and BPC Action.
“Our country’s housing shortage, which has hit small towns and rural areas particularly hard, is fueling an affordability crisis,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “This legislation will increase flexibility on loan repayments for nonprofits and local governments that are building affordable rural housing, giving them more options to address the unique needs of rural communities.”