BY Fadia Patterson Hillsborough County
PUBLISHED 9:05 PM ET Oct. 21, 2026 in the Tampa Bay Times
Link to article > https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/10/22/new-federal-protections-aim-to-preserve-affordable-rural-rental-housing
SEFFNER, Fla. — A 31-unit apartment complex in unincorporated Hillsborough County is showing how federal financing can help preserve affordable housing as rural apartments across the country face aging buildings and expiring federal loans.
North Grove Manor, built in 1979, was preserved through roughly $4.1 million in federal financing, including $2.5 million in federal housing tax credits and a $1.6 million USDA Rural Development loan. USDA rental assistance also helps keep monthly housing costs down, with residents paying an average of about $250 a month toward rent.
The Seffner area has changed since the 1980s, when parts of it were rural and surrounded by pastureland. As the area has grown, residents say affordability has become harder to find.
Milagros Toro, who has lived at North Grove Manor for 14 years, said rent prices elsewhere are out of reach.
“You might as well be a house with that,” Toro said. “It’s terrible.”
Melissa Bonner, another North Grove Manor resident, said the rental assistance reduces a major source of stress.
“It helps me focus on not worrying,” Bonner said. “That is the biggest thing — it’s not worrying.”
Housing leaders discussed the issue at the annual Florida Council for Affordable and Rural Housing conference. Kevin Flynn, president of Flynn Management Corporation, which manages North Grove Manor, said preserving existing affordable housing has become increasingly difficult.
“It’s really become difficult to preserve that housing, and whatever dollars we can get from the state or federal government really impact those communities,” Flynn said.
Across the country, there are 13,000 USDA-financed apartments, many of which the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing says are aging and at risk of losing affordability as federal mortgages expire.
Colleen Fisher, executive director of the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing, said USDA federal programs have been expanded in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Traditionally, Section 521 assistance ends when the underlying Section 515 mortgage matures or is paid off.
Fisher described the change as “decoupling,” saying it can help landlords preserve those properties.
If a rural housing landlord opts out of the USDA program, the property could return to market-rate rent. Tenants would also become eligible for vouchers toward other rental properties.
For Toro, keeping her apartment affordable also means being able to live independently.
“If I wasn’t here, I would have to be living with some members of my family,” Toro said.