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Summer 2025 🍓
Greetings from Minnesota Housing!
Applications are now in for the 2025 Consolidated RFP for Multifamily and the Impact Fund for Single Family. In the coming months we’ll be busy reviewing, scoring, advancing and approving proposals for the next round of housing investments. We look forward to announcing project selections at the end of the year.
Before we share our round-up of Minnesota Housing's latest news, I want to step back for a moment and simply say 'thank you.' Thank you to all the public servants out there, to the city, county, regional, state and federal workers, to the elected officials and the dedicated staff. I have eternal gratitude for you – for all of you.
We’re in a time when political violence rocks our very foundation. This summer we grieve the assassination of House Chair Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the attempted murder of Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I can only return to the core of why we do this work: We strive to make Minnesota a better place for all who live here. We know that you do too.
Thanks for all you do.
Jennifer
Top right: Local and state leaders celebrate the grand opening of Rivkin Apartments, a new deeply affordable housing development in Minneapolis by Wellington Management.
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Minnesota Housing staff at the West Central Region Housing Forum.
Energy abounds, as nearly 100 regional affordable housing champions gathered to discuss their shared mission: safe, stable and accessible housing in West Central Minnesota. Minnesota Housing and West Central Continuum of Care co-hosted the Housing Forum in Fergus Falls in May. Local government, nonprofits and developer attendees connected throughout the day to share ideas and strategies for affordable housing development that meets local needs. Attendees also:
- Learned about available technical assistance and project financing
- Heard from a local community development panel about their strategies for success in affordable housing development
Read a wrap up of the event.
Where else did we gather to address housing in Minnesota? Check out photos from the May 1 Affordable Housing Summit we co-sponsored with Baker Tilly US, Winthrop & Weinstine and Landon Group. We'll see many of you again next year for this powerful event!
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Six school-led housing projects were selected for funding through the newly created Housing Challenge Fund for Schools in Greater Minnesota. (Pictured at right are participants of one of these programs in Bemidji).
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Seven proposals were selected to receive $37 million in Homeownership Investment Grants Program funds to support projects that encourage affordable homeownership.
- Twenty grants totaling over $28 million will go to organizations under the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program. Additional funding will support five Homework Starts with Home projects addressing homelessness and housing instability among students and their families.
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Was getting a housing bill to the Governor’s desk a breeze? Maybe not, but there continues to be bipartisan support for housing: The two-year budget and policy bill was the first omnibus bill to pass both bodies in the regular legislative session. All around the state, legislators agree that housing is a top priority in their districts. The budget bill spends $183.9 million across Minnesota Housing’s state-appropriated programs and included $50 million in new Housing Infrastructure Bond authority. Capital investment bills from the one-day special legislative session sent another $30 million to the agency.
Read our summary of the appropriations and policy provisions passed.
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While we still don’t have certainty as to what will happen with the HUD budget as it relates to the federal appropriations process, here’s what we know so far about the reconciliation bill that was signed into law by the president on July 4. The reconciliation bill includes changes on a variety of issues, including cuts related to climate and renewable energy, higher education and access to health care and food assistance, while also expanding the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to encourage the development of affordable rental housing. We continue to analyze the net effect of this significant piece of legislation.
Congress is now working on fiscal year 2026 appropriations where we’re watching several items in the House’s proposed budget that could significantly affect housing stability for thousands of Minnesotans, including:
- Elimination of the HOME program, reducing the number of deeply affordable housing units for Minnesota’s most vulnerable
- Cuts to some rental assistance programs that about 100,000 Minnesotans rely on
- A 26% reduction in HUD staff, slowing down approval and receipt of vital grant funds and putting tenants at risk of losing housing
- Removal of all investments for legal assistance for eviction prevention, despite an 18% surge in homelessness nationwide.
Visit the National Council on State Housing Agencies for more detail.
Last year, Minnesota Housing's First-Generation Homebuyer Loan Program served 1,431 households, many of whose families had been excluded from homeownership for generations. The program became an important tool in making homeownership more affordable throughout the state and addressing the homeownership gap: 82% of the homebuyers were Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).
While our program has closed, the work continues:
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Minnesota Housing has incorporated first generation as an eligibility factor in our ongoing first-time homebuyer loan programs.
- A similar downpayment program for first-generation homebuyers continues at https://firstgendpa.org.
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In recent years, rental housing has become less affordable for lower-income households. We developed the chart below to show that very-low-income renters have faced a decline in income yet a rise in rent in recent years after adjusting for inflation.
 The above chart shows the change in rents and incomes between 2019 and 2022 for renter households at the bottom 25% of rents and incomes. Between 2019 and 2022, this population saw:
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Gross rents increase 4.1% from $788 to $810
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Incomes decrease 6.4% from $23,400 to $21,900
What does this mean? The data shows that rental housing has become less affordable for lower-income households because rents rose faster than inflation, but incomes did not keep pace with inflation. For more data and trends you can use, check out the Key 2025 Housing Issues & Trends Chart Book.
A resident at Viking Towers gives us a tour.
Check out these recently opened or re-opened properties welcoming residents across Minnesota. Share the joy by following the links for photos and more information about each:
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Viking Towers, Alexandria, Alexandria HRA
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Goldenrod Glen Apartments, Big Lake, Aeon
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Rivkin Apartments, Minneapolis, Wellington Management, Inc.
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Lewis Lofts, Mankato, Cohen Esrey
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Silver Linings Apartments, Moorhead, Churches United and Beyond Shelter
- Campbell Street Apartments, Welcome, MN, Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership
- Eastside Acres, Chokio, MN, Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership
It's building season! These properties will help expand access to housing across the state.
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Welch Place and Wadena West, Duluth, Center City Housing Corporation
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Red Lake Supportive Housing, Red Lake Nation, Red Lake Reservation Housing Authority
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Carver Oaks Senior Residence, Carver, Carver County HRA
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Prairie Pointe, Shakopee, Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative
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Views on 7th, Little Falls, Central Minnesota Housing Partnership (shown at right)
- Trailside Apartments, Rochester, Olmsted County Housing and Redevelopment Authority
- Vue Point Apartments, Waite Park, TTT Development LLC
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Housing needs across Minnesota vary significantly, and communities can find it difficult to find and access affordable housing dollars. Enter Minnesota Housing’s Local Government Housing Programs team.
This team of nine works closely with cities, counties and Tribal Nations to foster collaboration between communities, provide technical assistance and connect local governments to funding opportunities that could meet their housing needs.
This year, the team, led by Jennifer Bergman (pictured above in pink shirt), launched four (yes, FOUR!!) new programs: Bring It Home Rental Assistance, Local Housing Trust Funds, Tier II Small Cities Grants and Greater Minnesota Infrastructure Grants. These programs provide rental assistance, encourage local investment in affordable housing, and support local governments in creating affordable and workforce housing in Greater Minnesota. The team also provides technical assistance and supports reporting for the Local Affordable Housing Aid and Statewide Affordable Housing Aid programs.
These programs are designed to make funds easy for communities to apply for and administer, so that even a small city run by a single staff person can access the programs.
Thanks for all you do to make stable housing a reality for more Minnesotans!
Jennifer Leimaile Ho
Commissioner, Minnesota Housing
P.S. If someone forwarded you this newsletter, please sign up to receive future editions. Enter your email and select "General News from Minnesota Housing." Thanks!
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About Us
Minnesota Housing, the state's housing finance agency, works to provide access to safe, stable and accessible housing Minnesotans can afford in a community of their choice. In 2024, we distributed $1.96 billion in resources and served 73,650 households. Visit our website to learn more.
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