U.S. Capitol Building
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC) and members of the ACTION Campaign urged the U.S. House of Representatives to raise the Public Welfare Investment (PWI) cap from 15% to 20%, following the Senate’s recent approval of the proposal. Advocates said the change would unleash billions in private investment to finance affordable housing through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit).
Since its inception in 1986, the Housing Credit has financed over four million affordable homes, driven largely by bank investments. But the current PWI cap limits how much banks can invest in projects classified as benefiting the public welfare. AHTCC CEO Emily Cadik said the higher cap “would help ensure the full potential of the recent historic Housing Credit expansion,” referring to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which aims to create 1.2 million affordable homes in the next decade.
A recent AHTCC survey found that 42% of Housing Credit investment in 2024 came from banks nearing the current limit, representing $14 billion in financing. When Congress last raised the cap in 2006, community investments surged nearly ninefold.
The bipartisan proposal originated as the Community Investment and Prosperity Act, led by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and is now part of the ROAD to Housing Act.
“With record levels of housing need nationwide, lifting the PWI cap is a common-sense step to expand the supply of affordable homes,” Dudley Benoit, the AHTCC Board president, said.
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