WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development recently announced the Multifamily Housing Loan Preservation Pilot and Multifamily Housing Guaranteed Loan Notice of Loan-to-Cost Percentage Change. The program is intended to preserve and produce affordable rural rental housing, the USDA said. The goal is to “speed property transfers, reduce duplicate paperwork, and preserve rural affordable housing stock.”

The agency’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) supports affordable multifamily housing in rural communities. The RHS portfolio includes more than 12,000 properties and approximately 400,000 affordable rental units, with 95 percent in the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing portfolio. RHS will carry out the 24-month pilot under Sections 506(b), 515 and 538 of the Housing Act of 1949, “continuing its mission to help rural families find affordable, decent, safe and sanitary rural rental housing.”

“It’s about protecting and preserving the quintessential American way of life that starts with a place to call home,” said Glen Smith, USDA undersecretary for rural development.

“Cutting red tape and increasing access to affordable housing is a priority of the Trump-Vance Administration,” said RHS administrator George Kelly. “We are streamlining federal requirements that add time and cost without adding value. When we remove unnecessary steps and bureaucratic oversight, we help the government to operate like a business and preserve housing supply in rural America.”

For more information about USDA Rural Development housing programs, visit www.rd.usda.gov.