{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alsobrooks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/alsobrooks-liccardo-call-on-director-pulte-to-prioritize-missing-middle-housing-funding/", "ALSOBROOKS, LICCARDO CALL ON DIRECTOR PULTE TO PRIORITIZE \u201cMISSING MIDDLE\u201d HOUSING FUNDING", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MD", "Angela D. Alsobrooks", "A000382", "www.alsobrooks.senate.gov", "alsobrooks", "https://www.alsobrooks.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "September 24, 2026\n\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 As reported today in POLITICO\u2019s Morning Money, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Congressman Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.-16) are urging Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to encourage more lending toward \u201cmissing middle\u201d multifamily affordable housing through reforms to the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system.\n\n\u201cThere is a clear need for more housing developments in this range (5-to-49 units) in urban and rural communities across the country. But too often, developers of condominiums and rental properties in the 5-to-49-unit range face a financing gap: the developments are too large for conventional lending for single-family residential development, but too small to attract institutional capital,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe lawmakers encouraged Director Pulte to consider the following steps:\n\nEncourage FHLBanks to prioritize targeted advances and lending products aimed at 5-49-unit construction and rehabilitation to support affordable rental and homeownership opportunities;\n\nEncourage FHLBanks to build underwriting capacity and pilot programs for missing-middle lending; and\n\nIncorporate missing-middle lending data into future reports to the National Economic Council, Office of Management and Budget, and Congress.\n\nSee below or here for the full letter:\n\nDear Director Pulte:\n\nAs federal agencies begin to implement the 21st Century Road to Housing Act (Public Law No: 119-101) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) responds to Executive Order 14393 (\u201cPromoting Access to Mortgage Credit\u201d), we urge FHFA to use its existing authority as regulator of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System to direct more capital toward \u201cmissing middle\u201d housing: 5-to-49-unit multifamily housing developments for ownership and rental.\n\nThere is a clear need for more housing developments in this range in urban and rural communities across the country. But too often, developers of condominiums and rental properties in the 5-to-49-unit range face a financing gap: the developments are too large for conventional lending for single-family residential development, (which is defined as 1-4 units) but too small to attract institutional capital. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and outside experts Aaron Klein and Chris Hughes have outlined a good case for action. According to 2026 data and a Congressional Budget Office study, the FHLB system holds $1.43 trillion in assets and receives an estimated $7 billion per year implicit federal guarantee on its debt. FHLBs are statutorily required to allocate ten percent of net income towards affordable housing and in recent years have voluntarily allocated more, positioning them uniquely to close this financing gap. Multifamily construction starts have fallen more than thirty percent since 2022 as financing costs have risen. According to the Klein/Hughes study, directing a larger share of FHLB advances towards below-market loans for missing-middle buildings could support tens of thousands of additional housing units using the System\u2019s existing balance sheet without any additional federal spending through appropriations.\n\nThis is an area where FHFA can make real progress using tools at its disposal at no cost to taxpayers that is also squarely within the intent of Executive Order 14393, which directs the FHFA to consider \u201ccreating targeted FHLB liquidity programs for entry-level housing, owner-occupied purchase loans, and small residential builders\u201d and facilitating \u201cgreater financial leverage for small-scale\u2026housing projects.\u201d EO 14393 is clearly intended to improve capital flows towards important housing construction, of which 5-49 unit developments should be prioritized.\n\nAs you implement EO 14393 using your existing authority, we encourage FHFA to consider steps such as:\n\nEncourage FHLBanks to prioritize targeted advances and lending products aimed at 5-49-unit construction and rehabilitation to support affordable rental and homeownership opportunities;\n\nEncourage FHLBanks to build underwriting capacity and pilot programs for missing-middle lending; and\n\nIncorporate missing-middle lending data into future reports to the National Economic Council, Office of Management and Budget, and Congress.\n\nWe welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. Thank you for your consideration.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alsobrooks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/alsobrooks-liccardo-call-on-director-pulte-to-prioritize-missing-middle-housing-funding/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4882590621709824, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}