NRHC News & Publications

Policy Reports and Research Studies

National Rural Housing Coalition Releases Report on Rural Rental Housing Preservation Issues (October 2004)

Preserving Rural America's Affordable Rental Housing-Current Issues describes in detail the status of the Rural Housing Service Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program. The report provides information on the characteristics of the tenant population, the problems confronting policymakers trying to develop a policy to preserve and maintain the current portfolio of projects, documents the shortfall in resources available for financing projects, profiles successful local strategies to preserve rural rental housing and makes a series of recommendations for policymakers.

The report was financed through a grant from the Fannie Mae Foundation.

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Opening Doors to Rural Homeownership

Outcomes from the National Rural Housing Coalition Rural Homeownership Symposium (2000). Despite continuing high poverty rates in America's rural areas, federal rural housing assistance remains low and is a key barrier to progress toward higher homeownership rates in non-metropolitan areas. This paper cites obstacles to rural homeownership and recommendations for improving rural housing. Its findings include:
- Federal financing of rural homeownership has dropped, now providing assistance for approximately 15,000 units annually, down from 100,000 units in 1985;
- USDA's Rural Housing Service and HUD's HOME program should increase direct assistance to rural homeowners, as well as capacity building funding for private nonprofit organizations helping to finance and build rural housing.

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Self-Help Housing - Analysis for a Lending Product (2000)

In July, 1999, the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) received a grant from the Fannie Mae Corporation to help gain a better understanding of mutual and self-help housing in the United States. The topics covered include:

a composite of the typical self-help borrower;
delinquencies and foreclosure rates of self-help borrowers;
length of time self-help borrowers stay in their homes;
how self-help housing is used for farmworkers; and
various financing models that have been designed to fund self-help projects.

A Literature Review of Rural Housing (1999)

The literature review compiles research, reports, studies, and evaluations on rural housing and places them within the context of findings. It looks at the history, issues and problems facing rural housing through the eyes of researchers who have studied rural America. The research shows that the need for rural housing is acute and that federal programs are, in large, effective but inadequately funded. The literature also shows that rural America has pockets of severe poverty like the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, Indian Reservations and the colonias along the US/Mexico border that have severe needs for decent, safe and sanitary housing.

Creative Alternative Financing for Rural Rental Housing (1998)

This report is based on a roundtable discussion of non-profit rural rental housing practitioners and a case study of four rental housing projects. The case study showcases how rural housing practitioners are designing and implementing complex projects in order to leverage the millions of dollars needed to build rental housing. The roundtable discussion identifies several recommendations for policy makers to consider when developing policies and legislation for rental housing.

Revolving Loans for Rural America: A History and Assessment of the Rural Development Loan Fund and the Intermediary Relending Program (1993)

An analysis of the evolution of a federal rural development program and an assessment of its effectiveness in meeting the credit needs of small rural businesses. Case studies of Minnesota, Mississippi, California, and Maine offer insight into how different local intermediaries approach economic development. The report offers program recommendations aimed at targeting funds to the neediest communities.

Searching for the Way that Works: An Analysis of FmHA Rural Development Policy (1990)

A critique of both the infrastructure and business development programs administered by the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA). Based on extensive research, field work, and interviews with FmHA officials, the report found that current programs are insufficiently targeted to the neediest rural communities and offers policy recommendations to improve targeting and effectiveness.