LANSING, Mich. (June 28, 2023) — Tuesday, the Michigan Senate passed legislation to increase the state’s middle-income housing supply by expanding Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) eligibility to include middle-income households.
Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) sponsored Senate Bill 293, which expands the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund (HCDF) by making its financing available to middle-income households and providing state and regional housing authorities greater flexibility to address “missing middle” housing needs.
“Affordable housing is often the first thing I hear about in conversations with people in our community,” said Sen. McDonald Rivet. “The new jobs coming to Michigan and our region are great, but we also need housing that works for working families. The changes to the Community Housing Development Fund are good steps forward to solve our state’s labor supply challenges, grow our population, and stabilize families.”
The HCDF acts as MSHDA’s incubator for innovation in housing, leveraging public and private dollars to get projects off the ground. McDonald Rivet’s legislation provides the HCDF with flexibility to support capacity building, modernizing the fund to be an effective tool for rural, urban and suburban communities.
Expanding the HCDF in the State Housing Authority Act would increase eligibility to household incomes up to 120% AMI (Average Median Income) in respective communities. With this expansion, SB 293 will give MSHDA and regional authorities more flexibility to meet each community’s market demands and most pressing housing needs.
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