LHC Board Adopts 2024 Qualified Allocation Plan

BATON ROUGE, LA – The Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) Board of Directors recently approved the State’s 2024 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The plan is developed with input from developers, housing advocates, and communities across Louisiana regarding the state’s housing needs.

The QAP is a planning document that State Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) are required to develop in order to distribute federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The plan outlines the HFA’s priorities and specifies the criteria it will use to select projects competing for tax credits in the coming year.

The 2024 QAP encourages innovation and resilient building practices through the inclusion of the FORTIFIED Roof threshold and optional points for higher resilience standards, Green building practices, and Universal Design.

FORTIFIED Standards go beyond typical building codes to deliver superior performance during severe weather including hurricanes, strong thunderstorms, and lower-level tornadoes. FORTIFIED is a nationally recognized building method based on more than 20 years of scientific research and real-world testing by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

The 2024 QAP incentivizes FORTIFIED Silver and Gold with points. FORTIFIED Silver includes the protection of FORTIFIED Roof and adds additional protection to vulnerable and often overlooked components, including parapets, doors and windows. For the ultimate protection, FORTIFIED Gold includes all of the protection of FORTIFIED Roof and Silver and requires that the entire structure is tied together forming a continuous load path.

In addition, extraordinary site costs and those associated with the requirements and incentives for the FORTIFIED standards will be excluded from the calculation of the development’s Total Development Cost limits established in the QAP.

“This year’s plan illustrates LHC’s vision for the future of affordable housing in Louisiana,” said Joshua G. Hollins, LHC Executive Director. “Our top priority remains building homes that will withstand the test of time and Mother Nature for decades to come. I look forward to the resilient projects that will be built as a result of this new set of guidelines.”

Governmental priorities were revised to include points for projects located in a Difficult Development Area, Qualified Census Tract, or Federally or State recognized Tribal Organization as well as projects located in a parish that has not received a LIHTC award in the last 20 years: Beauregard, Claiborne, Grant, LaSalle, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. John the Baptist, and Tensas.

The LHC is also introducing a new scoring category as an option for applicants committed to reducing the impact of eviction and implementing low-barrier tenant screening. Applicants that elect to receive points in the eviction prevention category are obligated to develop an eviction prevention plan.

“We are making strides to ensure residents are able to obtain safe, affordable housing by incentivizing low-barrier tenant screening as it relates to past evictions, and we are proud that Louisiana is only the second state in the nation to incentivize eviction prevention to help residents stay in their homes,” said Hollins.

Additionally, points will be made available for material participation in the development team by a minority-owned business, woman-owned business, veteran-owned business, or service disabled veteran-owned business. Points will be made available for joint ventures with a certified minority-owned business, woman-owned business, veteran-owned business, or service disabled veteran-owned business.

Click here to view or download the final 2024 QAP.