HUD to Publish 2020 OCAFs and Regulatory Request for Information
Tomorrow, HUD will publish in the Federal Register two notices. The first states the new Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) for 2020. The second asks for help in identifying laws, regulations, and guidelines across various levels of government that artificially raise the costs of affordable-housing development.
- Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment Factors for 2020 – This notice establishes the OCAFs for 2020. They are applicable on February 11, 2020. Operating Cost Adjustment Factors are used to adjust Section 8 rents for certain project-based contracts. (These are different than renewal funding inflation factors [RFIFs] which are–in general–applicable to a different Section 8 program–the Housing Choice Voucher program.)
- White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing; Request for Information – This notice seeks to identify “Federal, State, local, and Tribal laws, regulations, and administrative practices that artificially raise the costs of affordable-housing development and contribute to shortages in housing supply.” While it notes that some regulations are useful and provide a benefit, it seeks information on those rules where the costs outweigh the benefits. The notice seeks “data, other information, analyses, and recommendations on methods for reducing these regulatory barriers.” Comments will be due in 60 days from the date of publication (tomorrow).
The pre-publication copy of the OCAFs can be found here.
The pre-publication copy of the request for information on regulatory barriers to developing affordable housing notice can be found here.