Fannie Mae this week rolled out a new program designed to boost the development of healthy living options for residents of affordable, multifamily rental properties.
The program, called Healthy Housing Rewards, is an initiative that targets the developers and offers them an incentive to include healthy design features for newly constructed or rehabilitated affordable, multifamily rental properties.
In the first phase of the program, Fannie Mae will provide borrowers with a price break if they include design features that “improve air quality, encourage physical activity, and incorporate common space, community gardens, and playgrounds into newly constructed or rehabilitated affordable rental properties,” the government-sponsored enterprise said in a release.
“Incorporating healthy design features in affordable multifamily properties can have a big impact on residents – from increasing physical activity and social interaction to reducing environmental triggers for asthma,” said Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President, Multifamily, Fannie Mae.
“When we strengthen the connection between affordable housing and the long-term health and stability of the people and families who live there, we help create more sustainable communities across the country,” Hayward added. “This new initiative will provide a financial incentive to borrowers who invest in the health and stability of the people who live in their affordable housing properties.”
Fannie Mae said that the Healthy Housing Rewards program is one of several partnerships that Fannie Mae is pursuing as part of a corporate-wide effort called “Sustainable Communities Partnerships and Innovation.”
Fannie Mae said that it plans to provide below-market-rate financing for properties that meet its Healthy Housing standards.
