42 U.S.C. § 19506 — Accelerating Home Building Act

(a) Definitions
"Affordable housing" means housing where the total monthly housing cost is no more than 30 percent of monthly income for a household earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. "Covered structure" means a low-rise or mid-rise building with 25 dwelling units or fewer, including: an accessory dwelling unit; infill development; a duplex; a triplex; a fourplex; a cottage court; a courtyard building; a townhouse; a multiplex; and any other structure with 2 or more units that HUD approves. "Eligible entity" means a unit of general local government^*, a municipal membership organization, or an Indian tribe. "High opportunity area" has the meaning already given in HUD's regulations (12 C.F.R. § 1282.1). "Infill development" means residential building on small parcels in already-established areas, replacing or refurbishing housing while using existing utilities and infrastructure. "Mixed-income housing" means a development made up of units at differing levels of affordability. "Prereviewed designs" (also called pattern books) means construction plans that localities have already checked and approved as meeting local building and permitting standards, to speed up approval of housing construction. "Rural area" means a city or town with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. "Secretary" means the Secretary of HUD.

(b) Authority
Using appropriated funds, the Secretary can award grants to help eligible entities pick prereviewed designs of covered mixed-income-housing structures for use in their jurisdiction. The grant money cannot pay for construction, alteration, or repair work.

(c) Considerations
When reviewing applications, the Secretary must weigh: the applicant's need for affordable housing; whether high opportunity areas exist in its jurisdiction; coordination with a state^* agency; and coordination with state, local, and regional transportation-planning authorities.

(d) Set-aside for rural areas
At least 10 percent of each year's available grant money must go to eligible entities located in rural areas.

(e) Reports
The Secretary must require grant recipients to report on: how the grant money improved production and supply of affordable housing; which prereviewed designs they selected; how many building permits used those designs; and how many housing units those designs produced.

(f) Availability of information
The Secretary must: as much as possible, encourage localities to publicly post online the prereviewed designs they selected and the benefits of using them; and gather, identify, and publicly share best practices^* about such designs on HUD's website.

(g) Design adoption and repayment
The Secretary can require an entity to return its grant money if it hasn't adopted the selected prereviewed designs within 5 years of getting the grant, unless the Secretary extends that period.

(h) Technical assistance
The Secretary can set aside up to 5 percent of a fiscal year's appropriated funds to give technical assistance to grant recipients, and to give technical help to prospective applicants before they apply.