FHFA publishes three-year plans to improve access to housing
The Federal Agency for Housing Financing (FHFA) on Monday unveiled its three-year plan for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac to improve housing options in disadvantaged areas.
Key pillars of the plans include strengthening access in rural communities, looking to manufactured housing as a tool to increase supply, and addressing the liquidity needs of first-time homebuyers.
Required under separate regulatory frameworks, FHFA submitted the plans as part of the 2025-2027 Duty to Serve (DTS) requirements and the 2025-2027 Equitable Housing Finance Plans (EHFPs).
The DTS plans aim to address a lack of liquidity in the industrial housing sector, preserving affordable housing and rural housing. Meanwhile, the EHFPs “include strategies to ensure that homeowners and renters in all communities have affordable and sustainable housing options,” the agency explained.
FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said these plans are intended to substantially advance the mission of FHFA and the GSEs to better support mortgage borrowers and renters across the country.
“It is critical that innovative ideas for addressing liquidity needs in underserved markets are implemented and scaled in rural communities and other areas facing access and affordability challenges,” Thompson said.
Specifically regarding the DTS plans, FHFA claims that they “increase liquidity to serve nearly 690,000 renter households and more than 90,000 homeowner households. For the first time, the companies’ Underserved Markets Plans include strategies to serve communities across the rural market, in addition to the regulatory-defined rural population with the highest needs.”
Each GSE will take several actions to assess the potential impact of these plans. This includes six Freddie Mac “Develop the Developer” academies, aimed at better addressing housing development capacity in rural areas. And Fannie Mae “will focus on enabling rural community development financial institutions to access secondary markets,” the FHFA explained.
The GSEs’ plans include provisions for manufactured housing communities to “better support owners who voluntarily limit rent increases on rental properties.” The DTS plans And EHFPs are available on separate, dedicated online web portals through FHFA.
