Financial Tools and Resources

• Linkage fees are fees or other requirements that local governments place on new industrial, commercial and office developments to offset the impact that new employment has on housing needs within a community. In the same way that local governments require residential developers to offset the school impacts caused by their development, businesses are required to mitigate the new housing needs created by their new job development. In order to enact a linkage requirement, a local government must first complete a nexus study to show the relationship between the non-residential development and the need for affordable housing. Several examples of nexus studies are available online, including Oakland CA, Martha's Vineyard, MA and Seattle, WA.
• Winter Park, FL has a linkage fee of $0.50 per square foot for non-residential development.

• Land donated for affordable housing - Nearly four acres of land in northern New Mexico's Pojoaque Valley have been donated to the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust.
• College Land Donation Helps Launch Affordable Housing Complex - A groundbreaking ceremony in Davidson on Monday, December 2, initiated construction of "Creekside Corner," a development that will comprise fourteen affordable housing units for working people and their families. Davidson College President Robert Vagt was among representatives of several community groups who spoke at the occasion, since the college donated the .82 acre site for the project.
• Eves government donates land to City of Hamilton to build affordable housing - The Ernie Eves government today donated nearly three acres of land to the City of Hamilton to support affordable housing, announced David Young, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
• Solutions for affordable housing The new houses in Model City are typical single-family homes, with three bedrooms and handsome barrel-tiled roofs. The difference: They cost just $160,000 each. These Miami homes are an experiment in creating housing workers can afford. The city gave the developers vacant land for free. The exchange: they must sell the houses they build to buyers who make less than about $33,000.00.
• A win-win partnership emerging; Housing trust, children's agency are involved in negotiations - An organization battling child abuse is teaming up with a new group that's fighting another of the area's intractable problems: a lack of affordable housing.  The Child Protection Center is negotiating with the Community Housing Trust to build a multimillion-dollar children's services center and at least a dozen affordable homes at Laurel Street and Washington Boulevard in Sarasota.  The county says it will donate the prime location, valued at $2.9 million, if the two organizations can work out a deal.
• Affordable-housing deal in works in Dover A parcel of land off Hinds Road in Silverton could become the site of 12 to 14 units of affordable housing under a plan being considered by township officials and leaders of Clergy and People of Conscience for Workforce Housing.

• Housing Trust Funds  generally are established through an ordinance or legislation passed by a county, city or state legislature. The legislation accomplishes at least two necessary steps in the creation of a Housing Trust Fund. First, it dedicates a revenue source to the Housing Trust Fund or establishes other obligations (e.g., developer exactions) that create revenue. Second, it establishes the Housing Trust Fund as a separate and distinct entity that can receive and disburse funds and defines its purposes and operation.
• Low Country Housing Trust
• Housing Trust Fund of Santa Clara County
• A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) Trust Fund

• Extended family mortgages  Central Florida is the testing ground today for a new type of mortgage designed to help multigenerational households buy a home. The special home loans, backed by Fannie Mae, will be tailored for families with three or more generations living under the same roof.
• Fannie Mae has a number of flexible programs that take into account the unique circumstances of the home and/or homeowner.
• Energy Efficient Mortgage recognizes that energy efficient homes cost homeowners less to operate on a monthly basis than standard homes because they use less energy. Borrowers who choose energy efficient homes can afford to spend more on their housing expenses because they will likely spend less on their energy costs. The EEM allows borrowers to qualify for a larger mortgage as a result of the energy savings. The EEM benefits those buying new, energy efficient homes or those purchasing existing homes that need energy improvements.
  
  MyCommunityMortgage Energy Efficient Mortgage recognizes that energy efficient homes cost homeowners less to operate on a monthly basis than standard homes because they use less energy. The MyCommunityMortgage EEM is designed specifically for borrowers who are at or below 100 percent of area median income (AMI), with exceptions for high-cost areas. There is also no income limit for properties located in Fannie Neighbors areas.
  
  Smart Commute Initiative is designed to encourage homeownership in neighborhoods near public transit. It recognizes the transportation savings that home buyers can realize by purchasing a home located in a community served by public transportation. Smart Commute initiative is available to participating lenders in pilot locations, and can be customized to address the transit profile of a particular community.