New Mexico Lawmakers to Decide on Additional Funding for Affordable Housing Trust Fund

In a move to increase affordable housing construction across New Mexico, a state lawmaker is proposing that an agency tasked with such concerns be given substantially more funding to work with.

Democrat Senator Roberto Gonzales has introduced legislation that will give to Housing New Mexico, formerly called the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, upwards of $500 million for its use.

The funding would go directly to the Housing New Mexico’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to be used by municipalities and counties for “affordable housing projects, including new construction or rehabilitation of existing affordable housing.”

Senate Bill 145, which is currently being reviewed in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee, also stipulates that funding will target “municipalities and counties that have expedited zoning processes that support affordable housing development projects.”

The legislative proposal comes as Housing New Mexico is offering a new program designed to increase the affordable housing construction pool in the state. That program is called the Zero Interest Homebuilder Program and is designed, according to the agency, to “promote the development and sale of entry-level and economical homes priced as such for their respective market.”

Eligible applicants for the Zero Interest program include both for-profit and non-profit organizations, government housing agencies, Tribal governments and housing agencies, and builders, among others.

Project proposals eligible for funding must have floor plans of anywhere between 950 to 1,500 square feet, and no more and no less than two to three bedrooms, while employing materials “appropriate for cost-effective construction.”

Last year Housing New Mexico provided $74.7 million to be used for the construction of 940 new homes, along with $18.8 million to preserve an existing just over 1,100 homes.

January 31, 2025

By Garry Boulard

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