In an effort to promote affordable and sustainable home ownership, especially among credit-worthy first-time buyers, the Federal Housing Administration today published a long-awaited final regulation, and policy implementation guidance, establishing a new condominium approval process. Some of the highlights are (click here to download the new regulations):

• A new single-unit approval process or individual condominium units to be eligible for FHA-insured financing;
• The re-certification requirement for approved condominium projects is extended from two to three years;
• More more mixed-use projects to be eligible for FHA insurance.

Single Family Policy Handbook Guidance

FHA’s new Single Family Handbook sections published today provide the additional requirements that lenders and other industry participants need in order to implement FHA’s new policy, including requirements for single-unit approvals, minimum owner occupancy requirements, and commercial/non-residential space limits.

Single-Unit Approvals

As of October 15, FHA will insure mortgages for selected condominium units in projects that are not currently approved. An individual unit may be eligible for Single-Unit Approval under the following conditions:

• The individual condominium unit is located in a completed project that is not approved;
• For condominium projects with 10 or more units, no more than 10 percent of individual condo units can be FHA-insured; and projects with fewer than 10 units may have no more than two FHA-insured units.

Minimum Owner-Occupancy Requirements

FHA will require that approved condominium projects have a minimum of 50 percent of the units occupied by owners for most projects.

FHA Insurance Concentration in Condominium Projects

FHA will only insure up to 50 percent of the total number of units in an approved condominium project.

Commercial/Nonresidential Space Limits

FHA will require that the commercial/non-residential space within an approved condominium project not exceed 35 percent of the project’s total floor area.

(click here to download the new regulations)