State Funds Available to Build More Affordable Housing in Drilling Regions

• Marie Cusick
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  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) is looking to improve the availability of affordable housing options in regions of the state impacted by Marcellus Shale drilling.
The agency put a call out this week for proposals to develop housing for people with incomes below 50 percent of the median area income.
“We had tremendous success last year getting this funding out to communities,” said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Brian Hudson in a statement, “We want to build on that initial effort so that these Marcellus Shale funds can make a real, lasting and positive difference in people’s quality of life in communities that have been impacted by natural gas drilling.”

The funding is being made available through the 2013 Pennyslvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitiation Enforcement Fund, as well as Marcellus Shale Impact fees, which include $5 million from wells drilled last year.
The shortage of affordable housing has been a problem in communities with a lot of drilling activity. As StateImpact reported last year, the town of Towanda has seen rental prices skyrocket.
Housing proposals are due to PHFA by June 7.

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