AHIC RELEASES COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE FOR
UNDERWRITING PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROJECTS
 New Industry Resource Aims to Strengthen Investment in Housing for Vulnerable Populations
 

LEESBURG, VA – The Affordable Housing Investors Council (AHIC), the national organization representing equity investors in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, today announced the release of its Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Underwriting Guidance. The Guidance offers a comprehensive framework designed to help investors evaluate and support housing developments that serve individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations.
 
For more than three decades, AHIC has established industry standards—from risk rating guidelines to underwriting frameworks—that have helped make LIHTC one of the most successful real estate asset classes in the United States. This new guidance extends that tradition, responding to the increasing role of PSH in addressing homelessness and housing instability among vulnerable populations.
 
PSH combines deeply affordable housing with wrap-around services tailored to individuals and families with complex needs, including those experiencing chronic homelessness, homeless veterans, people with serious mental or physical disabilities, youth aging out of foster care, domestic violence survivors and more. These projects often require more intricate underwriting than standard LIHTC properties due to their reliance on service funding, referral systems, and specialized property management.
 
The AHIC PSH Guidance was developed by a task force of experienced underwriters and informed by extensive feedback from across the affordable housing ecosystem, including developers, syndicators, service providers and state and local housing partners.
 
“This guidance reflects the best of AHIC’s collaborative model,” said Vihar Sheth, AHIC President and Managing Director of Affordable Housing at U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance. “By bringing together diverse perspectives and carefully vetting real-world experiences, we’ve created a resource that equips investors to approach PSH deals with confidence. Our aim is not to raise alarms, but to replace fear with education—so that investors understand how these transactions differ from traditional LIHTC deals and why they are so essential in addressing our nation’s housing challenges.”
 
Key Features of the Guidance
The new AHIC guidance provides investors with:

• A framework for understanding how PSH differs from traditional LIHTC projects — including target populations, unique coordination needs, resident services and funding, tenant referral processes and specialized staffing, security and design requirements.
   
• Project-specific due diligence considerations — covering sponsor and property manager capacity, service provider evaluation, service and subsidy funding stability and regulatory risk. 
   
• Unit-level and project-level underwriting recommendations — including guidance on set-asides, subsidies, vacancy assumptions, reserves and operating expenses.

• Practical tools and appendices — including a history of PSH, market study considerations, sample regulatory relief language, design elements, and a checklist for site visits.

By outlining the distinctive risks and opportunities of PSH, AHIC’s new guidelines are designed to give investors the clarity they need to participate in these critically important deals.
                                                                                       
“PSH plays a vital role in stabilizing lives and communities,” added Sheth. “We want our members—and the broader LIHTC investor community—to feel confident engaging in these transactions, knowing they are making both sound investments and lasting social impact.”
 
About AHIC
The Affordable Housing Investors Council (AHIC) is the only national membership organization dedicated to equity investors in low-income housing tax credits. Founded in 1995, AHIC has developed widely adopted resources and best practices that have helped professionalize the LIHTC industry. The organization's membership includes institutional investors—including banks and insurance companies—who collectively invest billions of dollars annually in LIHTC properties. AHIC's affiliate members include syndicators and brokers who serve as vital intermediaries in the LIHTC marketplace, connecting investor members with quality affordable housing investments and facilitating the efficient flow of capital to communities nationwide.
 
For more information and to access the new PSH Underwriting Guidelines, visit www.ahic.org/PSH.
 
Media Contact:
Kim Duty
AHIC Executive Director
kduty@ahic.org
303/475-9695