Fannie Mae Multifamily Introduces Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW) Housing to Support Workforce Rental Affordability

WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) announced today a new Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW) product to create and preserve workforce housing through the company’s network of Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS®) lenders. With its pricing and underwriting benefits, the product incentivizes conventional and social impact Fannie Mae multifamily borrowers to elect rent restrictions on eligible properties for the life of the loan, helping support workforce-income renters.

The SDW product will be offered to borrowers who agree to preserve or create a minimum of 20% of units in a multifamily property at levels affordable to residents earning between 80% area median income (AMI) or, in certain cost-burdened designated metro areas, up to 100-120% AMI. The rent restrictions will be documented in the loan documents and compliance will be confirmed annually by DUS lender partners.

“Fannie Mae’s new Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce product will help solve rental affordability, accessibility, and sustainability challenges that missing-middle renters currently face. With this creative new financing solution, Fannie Mae and our partners can increase the supply of workforce rental units across the country and support long-term housing stability for renters,” said Rob Levin, Senior Vice President and Multifamily Chief Customer Officer, Fannie Mae. “We look forward to providing our lenders and borrowers with competitive pricing, certainty of execution, and efficiency under our delegated underwriting model so they can readily use this product.”

"Affordability continues to be a significant challenge for multifamily renters as rent increases have outpaced income growth,” said Michele Evans, Executive Vice President and Head of Multifamily, Fannie Mae. “Fannie Mae is addressing the need for workforce housing by providing innovative, attractive programs that create and preserve affordable multifamily units while enabling socially responsible investment opportunities for investors. The Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce product is our latest solution that supports a more equitable housing market and enables our partners to do well by doing good.”

Fannie Mae remains a reliable source of liquidity to support the multifamily market. The company provided $69 billion in multifamily debt financing in 2022.