Freddie Mac Targeted Affordable Housing (TAH):
2026 multifamily lending guide

Everything affordable-housing developers, LIHTC syndicators, and HFAs need to know about Freddie Mac's TAH platform — 4% and 9% LIHTC, BCE, NOAH preservation, tax-exempt bond enhancement, impact-gap financing — current as of 2026.

What is Freddie Mac TAH?

TAH — Targeted Affordable Housing — is Freddie Mac Multifamily's dedicated affordable-housing lending platform. While Freddie's Optigo Conventional business finances stabilized market-rate multifamily, TAH exists to serve rent- and income-restricted properties: 4% and 9% LIHTC, tax-exempt bond deals, Section 8 HAP-contracted assets, state HFA-financed projects, and naturally-occurring affordable housing (NOAH).

TAH partners with state housing finance agencies, LIHTC syndicators, mission-driven developers, and Freddie's Optigo seller/servicer network. The platform's execution menu covers the entire affordable capital stack — first mortgages, bond credit enhancement, direct tax-exempt loan purchases, subordinate impact-gap financing, and forward rate locks for construction take-outs.

TAH is also Freddie Mac's counter-cyclical commitment to affordable preservation and new production. When market-rate multifamily lending pulls back, TAH volume tends to hold up because affordable deals are driven by tax credit allocation cycles and HFA priorities rather than by interest-rate-sensitive cap-rate math. On this page you'll find every active TAH execution, eligibility highlights, the mission-driven attribution mechanics, forward commitments, and answers to the questions affordable-housing borrowers ask most.

TAH executions at a glance (2026)

The table below summarizes Freddie Mac's eight primary TAH executions, including minimum loan size, maximum term, leverage caps, and minimum DSCR. The mission badge denotes executions whose volume counts toward FHFA's 50% mission-driven requirement — every TAH execution qualifies.

Execution deep-dives

TAH 4% LIHTC + Bond

The 4% LIHTC + Bond execution is Freddie Mac's first-mortgage take-out on tax-exempt bond financings paired with non-competitive 4% LIHTC credits. The 4% credit is automatically available when at least 50% of a project's aggregate basis is financed with tax-exempt private activity bonds. Freddie provides the permanent first mortgage that retires the construction-period bonds at conversion. Minimum loan size is $3M, terms run 30 years, and leverage tops out at 90% LTV / 1.15x DSCR. Pairs naturally with a forward rate lock.

TAH 9% LIHTC

The 9% LIHTC credit is competitive — awarded by state HFAs through a Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) scoring process — and is typically used for new construction or substantial rehab of deeply affordable properties without bond financing. Freddie's TAH 9% execution provides equity-bridge or permanent take-out financing once the project lease-up triggers credit delivery. Minimum $3M, 30-year terms, up to 90% LTV / 1.15x DSCR. Forward commitments are commonly stacked on top to lock the permanent rate during construction.

Bond Credit Enhancement (BCE) with 4% LIHTC

BCE is Freddie Mac providing a credit wrap on tax-exempt bonds issued by a state or local HFA. Freddie's enhancement converts unrated or below-investment-grade bonds into AAA paper, sharply lowering the bond coupon the project pays. The BCE-with-4%-LIHTC variant is the most common bond enhancement structure, pairing with the 4% credit on private-activity bond deals. Minimum $5M, terms up to 35 years, leverage to 90% LTV / 1.15x DSCR. Trust indenture and remarketing infrastructure required.

BCE with Other (non-LIHTC affordable)

BCE is also available on bond-financed affordable properties that don't carry a 4% LIHTC allocation — for example, state HFA preservation deals using essential function bonds, 501(c)(3) bonds, or tax-exempt bonds where the credit allocation was not pursued. Underwriting is somewhat more conservative without LIHTC equity in the stack: 85% LTV / 1.20x DSCR. Minimum size remains $5M with 35-year terms. Often used by mission-driven non-profit developers and HFA-affiliated owners.

NOAH Preservation

NOAH — naturally-occurring affordable housing — refers to unsubsidized multifamily where rents are already affordable due to age, location, or condition rather than regulatory restriction. Freddie's NOAH Preservation execution finances acquisitions and refinances by mission-driven buyers who voluntarily commit (via recorded use agreement) to maintain affordability. Minimum $3M, 30-year terms, up to 85% LTV / 1.20x DSCR. Critical because NOAH represents the largest pool of affordable rental units nationally but loses tens of thousands of units annually to repositioning.

Preservation Rehab

Preservation Rehab finances acquisition and light-to-moderate rehabilitation of existing affordable properties — typically Section 8 HAP, expiring-use LIHTC, or other restricted assets where the new owner is taking over a stabilized rent roll and performing capital upgrades without displacing residents. Up to 90% LTV / 1.15x DSCR, minimum $3M, 30-year terms. Rehab budget is typically funded through loan proceeds, replacement reserves, and (where applicable) layered soft funds.

Tax-Exempt Loan (TEL)

A TEL is a tax-exempt obligation issued by a governmental issuer that is sold directly to a single investor instead of placed publicly as bonds. In Freddie's TEL execution, Freddie Mac itself is the direct purchaser of the TEL note — eliminating bond underwriting, rating, ongoing remarketing, and trustee infrastructure, which significantly reduces issuance costs versus a traditional public bond offering. Commonly paired with 4% LIHTC. Minimum $5M, up to 90% LTV / 1.15x DSCR, terms to 35 years.

Impact-Gap Financing

Impact-Gap Financing is Freddie Mac's subordinate sub-debt product for mission-driven deals where the first mortgage plus LIHTC equity plus soft funds still leave a gap in the capital stack. The gap loan sits behind the first mortgage in payment priority and is typically interest-only with a balloon at first-mortgage maturity. Minimums start at $1M; term matches the senior loan. Appropriate for extra-deeply-restricted projects (30–50% AMI), supportive housing, and geographies where soft-funds availability is thin.

How TAH counts toward FHFA mission-driven 50% requirement

FHFA requires that at least 50% of each GSE's multifamily purchase volume qualify as mission-driven — meaning loans on properties affordable to households at or below 80% of area median income (AMI), workforce housing, manufactured housing communities, or other categories that meet FHFA's housing-mission criteria. Every TAH execution automatically clears that bar.

The reason is structural: LIHTC mandates that 100% of the units in a tax-credit project be restricted at 60% AMI or below — well under the 80% AMI mission-driven threshold. Bond-financed affordable deals carry similar restrictions through the bond documents and any layered LURA (Land Use Restriction Agreement). NOAH preservation requires a recorded affordability commitment as a condition of the loan. There is no scenario in which a properly-closed TAH loan fails to count as mission-driven.

This is the defining contrast with Freddie's Optigo Conventional business, where only a fraction of loans pick up mission credit (workforce housing in LMI tracts, certain green retrofits, manufactured housing communities). TAH is the engine that lets Freddie Multifamily reliably hit its 50% mission-driven attribution every year — and it's why TAH volume targets are watched as closely as conventional volume internally.

TAH eligibility essentials

The core borrower and property requirements that apply across TAH executions:

• Borrower: often LIHTC syndicators, mission-driven developers, non-profits, or HFA-affiliated ownership entities; experienced affordable-housing operator track record required
• LURA / extended-use commitment: recorded land use restriction agreement or extended-use commitment running with the land for the duration of affordability restrictions (typically 30+ years for LIHTC)
• Rent & income restrictions: property must meet the rent and income restrictions specified by the credit allocation, bond documents, HAP contract, or NOAH use agreement
• Tax credit allocation source: state HFA (most common), state Department of Community Affairs (DCA), or other authorized allocating agency; allocation evidence required at closing
• Recourse: non-recourse to the borrowing entity with standard 'bad-boy' carve-outs (fraud, voluntary bankruptcy, environmental, unauthorized transfer)
• Assumption: case-by-case for affordable deals; preservation transfers between mission-driven owners are generally accommodated

TAH Forward Commitments

Freddie Mac TAH Forward Commitments lock the permanent-loan rate at the time of commitment and carry that rate lock through construction or substantial rehab — typically up to ~30 months for new construction and ~24 months for substantial rehab, with extension options available for delay. The forward structure pairs naturally with 4% LIHTC + bond and 9% LIHTC executions because tax credit equity won't fully pay in until lease-up and stabilization.

Mechanically, the borrower applies for the forward at the same time they close construction financing. Freddie issues a commitment with locked permanent terms, the project is built, and at construction completion / stabilization the permanent loan funds and retires the construction debt. Pricing reflects an extension premium over a standard immediate-funding execution; the borrower posts a non-refundable good-faith deposit at commitment that is credited at closing or forfeited if the deal doesn't convert. Forwards are essentially the only way to give a developer rate certainty on a 24–36 month construction timeline in an active-rate environment.

Frequently asked questions