Affordable housing news 12/18/15

Good news this morning from Congress, which approved a $1.1 trillion spending package averting a government shutdown.

The bill increases funding for the HOME program (previous versions effectively eliminated HOME), fully funds the renewal of all housing choice vouchers in use as well as vouchers about to be leased up by new voucher holders, and increases funding for both the public housing operating and capital funds.

CNN: Congress clears bill averting shutdown

CityLab: Residents in some public-housing units in Worcester, Massachusetts, must now get a job or go back to school

Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies: Unprecedented growth in the number of renter households over the past 10 years

NLIHC: Committee approves "Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act" despite opposition

NPR: There's shelter, and then there's housing: Utah claims muted victory

To all our blog readers, a very happy holiday! This is the final affordable housing news roundup of 2015, and we’ll be back in 2016 to bring you up to speed on what’s ahead in the new year.