08.08.25

Hoeven Hosts HUD Secretary in North Dakota, Outlines Efforts to Promote Access to Affordable Housing

Senator Outlines Work to Better Leverage Public-Private Partnerships, Empower Greater Home Ownership

FARGO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven this week hosted U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner in North Dakota to visit the state’s affordable housing efforts and advance policies and programs to more effectively meet North Dakotans’ housing needs. To this end, Senator Hoeven and Secretary Turner visited affordable housing developments in the Fargo region and held a stakeholder roundtable. Topics of the discussion included the following:

  • Efforts to leverage public-private partnerships to build affordable housing around the state. The senator stressed that such partnerships help taxpayer dollars go further by enabling developers to secure private investment, highlighting projects such as Monterey and Brighton Place, an 85-unit senior housing complex in West Fargo that utilized $2.7 million in federal funding to secure $15.8 million in private investment to replace deteriorated, low-quality public housing.
  • The enhancements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Hoeven discussed his work, as a cosponsor of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, to advance affordable housing efforts in the legislation, including:
    • Increasing the LIHTC allocation to states by 12 percent, which is anticipated to support the financing of an additional 1.22 million affordable homes over the next decade nationwide.
  • The benefits to communities as a whole, as affordable housing projects:
    • Help ensure a diverse mix of housing stock to meet residents’ needs, while helping keep the cost of living down.
    • Enable the re-development of outdated and unworkable structures, like Lashkowitz Tower in Fargo, helping drive economic growth.
  • Opportunities to empower greater homeownership. Hoeven discussed federal and state programs that help reduce the cost of homeownership, enabling more families and individuals to achieve greater financial security.
    • Of the 13,500 loans currently serviced by the North Dakota Housing Finance Authority (NDHFA), nearly half are guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), which often enables borrowers to secure lower interest rates.
    • In addition, NDHFA and FHA offer programs for first-time homebuyers to help them reduce down payments and closing costs, among other benefits.

“North Dakota’s population has grown rapidly over the past 20 years, resulting from a strong economy and affordable cost of living. In order to sustain this trend and support families’ quality of life, we’ve worked across the state to ensure enough housing is built to meet demand and make sure affordable options are available,” said Senator Hoeven. “I appreciate Secretary Turner for visiting the state to learn about our efforts, hear the needs and priorities of North Dakotans and to work with us to make the best use of taxpayer dollars to address critical housing needs in our state. In particular, today’s discussion was an opportunity to strengthen the public-private partnerships that are driving the construction of affordable housing, while highlighting programs available to make home ownership more affordable.”

“I’m happy to have had the opportunity to visit North Dakota, witness the creative ways communities are finding to promote homeownership, and see firsthand about how President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will bring prosperity to the state,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. “North Dakotans are living out the words on the state’s Latin motto: ‘One sows for the benefit of another age,’ because what they’re doing will serve future generations well as they purse the American Dream. I'm grateful to Senator Hoeven, Governor Armstrong, and local leaders for the warm welcome, and I look forward to continued discussions about how we can convene stakeholders to combat homelessness and make owning a home affordable again.”

As a member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Committee, Hoeven has worked to ensure support for federal programs that enable developers to leverage private investment in affordable housing projects, such as:

  • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) – $5.5 million for North Dakota in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 funding.
  • Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) – $3.46 million in FY25.
  • Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) – $3.44 million in FY24.
  • Housing Trust Fund (HTF) – $3.14 million in FY24.
  • Section 8 Vouchers – More than 21,000 individuals in North Dakota receive rental assistance, nearly all of which are seniors, those with disabilities and families with children.

 

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