Governor Kotek and Oregon Housing and Community Services Launch Program to Build More Housing, Lower Costs

Zero interest loans will support the development of housing for middle class Oregonians

Washington D.C. – On Feb 20th, Governor Tina Kotek and Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) announced the launch of Oregon’s Moderate Income Revolving Loan (MIRL) program. The program will provide zero interest loans to cities and counties for new housing units that do not have enough financing to start construction.

The funding is a tool cities and counties can use to boost housing construction, reducing housing prices and providing homeownership opportunities for moderate-income Oregonians.

“When Oregonians making a good wage can’t afford to live where they work, our businesses and communities can’t thrive. We have to work to make sure all Oregon families can afford a home with the urgency they deserve,” Governor Kotek said. “This program is an essential piece of the affordability puzzle, lending a hand to our local partners who need a little help to make the balance sheet make sense.”

“The heart of local governments is rooted in making everyday life better for their residents. Boosting housing support reinforces the importance and unity we ought to have about getting big things done, through locally driven housing solutions,” OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell said. “The Moderate Income Revolving Loan aims to empower cities and counties by providing loans to local governments, which can support developers to ensure housing prices are within reach to individuals and families who struggle to secure enough traditional credit or financing. With its revolving structure, repaid funds are reinvested to support others who need them to create new housing. No matter where they live in Oregon, people deserve a housing system that works for them.”

“Our cities and counties across Oregon need innovative tools to help with the cost of housing projects. The Moderate Income Revolving Loan fund is now one of those tools,” Senator Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City) said. “Thank you to Governor Kotek and Representative Marsh for partnering on this important legislation. I will continue to work across the aisle with my colleagues to solve Oregon’s most pressing issues.”

"In these days of high building costs, we’ve learned that middle income housing development often needs targeted subsidies to make projects pencil,” Representative Pam Marsh (D-Ashland) said. “The Revolving Loan Fund will provide the kind of sustained and strategic investment we need to get homes on the ground and Oregonians housed.”

Housing built under this program must rent or sell to families making lower than 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) during the lifespan of the loan, typically ten years. The fund is repaid with a fee in-lieu of property taxes, at no additional cost to the owner, which allows the state to repeatedly lend out the funds.

The MIRL program is part of a suite of tools in the Governor’s housing package, Senate Bill 1537 (2024), which allocated $75 million to the MIRL Fund. The bill also established the Housing Infrastructure Support Fund and the Housing Accountability and Production Office.

As a result of the Governor’s and the Legislature’s efforts, by July 2025, the state will have financed 2,800 affordable housing units and provided infrastructure for over 25,000 affordable and market rate housing units. The Governor’s 2025-2027 budget continues to build on that progress to increase Oregon’s housing supply in every part of the state.