STATE LIHTC RESEARCH

Texas
QAP scoring guide.

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) · 2026 QAP

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● Verified guideChecked Sep 12, 2026View source QAP ↗

THE POINT TABLE

Competitive scoring

24 categories

Not stated in the QAP or in any companion scoring summary found; TDHCA does not publish a fixed "winning score" because thresholds vary by year and by each of the 26 subregions/set-asides based on how many applications compete in that specific pool. Left null rather than guessed — would require analysis of the annual award/waiting-list report (e.g., "9pctCompRegAwards-WaitingList.pdf" on tdhca.texas.gov) for a given round to derive empirically.

Select a category to read its scoring criteria.

Size and Quality of the Units

15 pts

6 pts for meeting minimum per-bedroom-type square footage (500 SF Efficiency up to 1,250 SF 4BR; auto-granted for Rehab, USDA, or Supportive Housing if requested), plus 9 pts for providing a menu of unit/development-construction/energy-and-water-efficiency features at no charge to tenants (Rehab/Supportive Housing start with a 5-pt base). §11.9(b)(1).

Sponsor Characteristics

2 pts

Up to 2 points (alternative, not cumulative, paths) for: Qualified Nonprofit Organization ownership/material participation in the Nonprofit Set-Aside; a §42(h)(5)(C) nonprofit with ≥51% GP ownership and 10+ years' comparable operating experience; certifying no property-tax exemption will be sought; or ownership by a Housing Finance Corporation/Housing Authority operating in its own service area. §11.9(b)(2).

Income Levels of Residents

16 pts

Up to 16 pts for rent/income-restricting units deeper than the federal minimum, tiered by MSA location (Dallas/Ft.Worth/Houston/San Antonio/Austin vs. elsewhere) and by election type (20-50/40-60 tiers of 10-40% of units at ≤50% AMGI, or Average Income tiers of 54-57%); top tier (16 pts) reserved for ≥60% of units at ≤50% AMGI in Supportive Housing by a Qualified Nonprofit. §11.9(c)(1).

Rent Levels of Tenants

13 pts

Up to 13 pts (additive to, or included within, the Income Levels election) for restricting a share of units to ≤30% AMGI rents: 5% of units (7 pts), 10% of units or 7.5% in Rural areas (11 pts), or 20% for Supportive Housing by a Qualified Nonprofit (13 pts). §11.9(c)(2).

Resident Supportive Services

11 pts

10 pts for committing to a menu of resident supportive services (transportation, children's, adult, health, and community categories under §11.101(b)(7)) totaling at least 10 points; +1 pt for contacting local service providers and making community space available to them. §11.9(c)(3).

Section 811 PRA and Residents with Special Housing Needs

4 pts

Up to 4 pts combining: 3 pts for participating in the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program (existing or proposed Development, min. 5% of units); 2 pts for committing ≥5% of units to Persons with Special Housing Needs; 1 additional pt for a further 2% of units for Continuum-of-Care homeless referrals; 1 pt for a Veterans preference on VA-owned Supportive Housing sites. Some sub-items are mutually exclusive/conditional. §11.9(c)(4).

Opportunity Index

7 pts

Up to 2 pts for Development Site location in a low-poverty/high-median-income census tract (or one contiguous to one, or a growing Rural place), plus up to 5 more pts from an amenity menu (parks, transit, grocery, pharmacy, healthcare, childcare, low crime, library, college, education attainment, recreation, civic orgs, Meals on Wheels, veteran's facilities). Mutually exclusive with the Concerted Revitalization Plan/Opportunity Zone item. §11.9(c)(5).

Underserved Area

5 pts

Up to 5 pts (single best-fit path) for: location in a colonia (5), an Economically Distressed Area recently funded by the Texas Water Development Board (1), a census tract with no comparable-Target-Population LIHTC award in the last 20/15/10 years (tiered 5/4/3 pts), a census tract-and-contiguous-tracts with none in 10 years in larger Places (5), an aged (25+ yr) unrehabbed At-Risk/USDA property (3), or a census tract in the top income quartile of its region (5). §11.9(c)(6).

Proximity to Job Areas

4 pts

Up to 4 pts based on jobs within 5 miles per US Census OnTheMap data (Urban thresholds 4,500-10,000 jobs; Rural thresholds 1,500-6,000 jobs), plus up to 2 additional pts for sidewalk-connected transit access to jobs (capped combined at 4). Not available in At-Risk/USDA set-asides. §11.9(c)(7).

Local Government Support

17 pts

Up to 17 pts for a governing-body resolution: within a municipality, 17 pts for support / 14 pts for no-objection; within an ETJ, split 8.5/7 pts between city and county resolutions; within an unincorporated county, 17/14 pts from the county. Opposition resolutions zero out the item. §11.9(d)(1).

Commitment of Development Funding by Local Political Subdivision

1 pts

1 pt for a documented local government loan, grant, fee waiver, or other contribution worth ≥$500 (Urban) or ≥$250 (Rural), from a source other than the Applicant/Developer/Affiliate. §11.9(d)(2).

Declared Disaster Area

10 pts

10 pts if the Development Site is (or was within the prior two years) in a Governor-declared disaster area under Tex. Gov't Code §418.014. §11.9(d)(3).

Quantifiable Community Participation

9 pts

Points from a qualifying Neighborhood Organization's written statement: 9 pts support from an org that previously opposed another HTC deal, 8 pts ordinary support, 6 pts neutral from a previously-opposing org, 4 pts neutral/no-statement/no-org-exists, 0 pts opposition (with a challenge process that can convert unsubstantiated opposition to 4 pts). §11.9(d)(4).

Community Support from State Representative

8 pts

Up to 8 pts for an express support letter from the district's State Representative, 0 for neutral or no letter (or, if no letter at all, points instead flow from the Local Government Support resolution outcome), and as much as -8 pts deducted for an express opposition letter. §11.9(d)(5).

Input from Community Organizations

4 pts

Up to 4 pts (2 pts per letter, max 2 counted) from qualifying civic/community organizations, a master-planned-community property owners association, or a Special Management District — only available where no qualifying Neighborhood Organization statement exists; net of 1 pt per opposition letter received, floored at 0. §11.9(d)(6).

Concerted Revitalization Plan or Opportunity Zone

7 pts

Up to 7 pts for Urban sites within a municipally/county-adopted concerted revitalization plan (TIRZ/TIF or similar) with a supporting local-official letter, for Rural rehab/reconstruction of aged public-or-assisted housing at ≥85% occupancy, or for sites within a federal Opportunity Zone. Only available if no points are elected under Opportunity Index. §11.9(d)(7).

Financial Feasibility

26 pts

26 pts awarded automatically to all eligible Applications, conditioned on successfully clearing TDHCA underwriting/feasibility review. §11.9(e)(1).

Cost of Development per Square Foot

12 pts

Up to 12 pts for keeping voluntary Eligible Building Cost or Eligible Hard Cost per square foot of Net Rentable Area under CPI-indexed thresholds (e.g., ≤$155.12/SF Building Cost or ≤$207.21/SF Hard Cost for New Construction = 12 pts, with lower 11-pt tiers and separate, higher Rehabilitation thresholds up to $268.57/SF). §11.9(e)(2).

Pre-application Participation

6 pts

6 pts for filing a compliant pre-application and keeping the full Application materially consistent with it — unit count within 10%, same Rural/Urban designation, same Target Population and set-asides, self-score within 4 points, unchanged Underserved Area/Jobs elections and tie-breaker distance, same core Development Site/census tract. §11.9(e)(3).

Leveraging of Private, State, and Federal Resources

3 pts

Up to 3 pts (with ≥5% of units at ≤30% AMGI required) for a Housing Tax Credit funding request below 10% (3 pts, or 3 pts flat if also leveraging CDBG-DR/HOPE VI/RAD/Choice Neighborhoods funds), 11% (2 pts), or 12% (1 pt) of Total Housing Development Cost; requires deferred Developer Fee ≤50%. §11.9(e)(4).

Extended Affordability

4 pts

Up to 4 pts for voluntarily extending the total Affordability Period to 35 years (2 pts), 40 years (3 pts), or 45 years (4 pts). §11.9(e)(5).

Historic Preservation

2 pts

2 pts if at least 55% of units (or at least 55 units in 100+-unit Developments) are constructed within a Certified Historic Structure that receives historic tax credits by 8609 issuance; usable only once per property. §11.9(e)(6).

Right of First Refusal

1 pts

1 pt for committing to a post-Compliance-Period right of first refusal to purchase the Development (per §2306.6726), or, for single-family/condo Developments, a tenant rent-to-own right of first refusal. §11.9(e)(7).

Readiness to Proceed

1 pts

1 pt for certifying site acquisition and building-permit submission will occur by March 31 of the following year; not available in the At-Risk or USDA Set-Asides, and failure to meet the deadline risks a Board-imposed scoring penalty in a future round. §11.9(e)(8).

Scoring source

10 TAC §11.9, Competitive HTC Selection Criteria, 2026 QAP pp.60-90 (subsection (b) pp.61-63; (c) pp.63-75; (d) pp.75-85; (e) pp.85-89). Tie breakers at §11.7, pp.54-56. Set-asides and allocation process at §§11.5-11.6, pp.42-53. Pre-application threshold criteria at §11.8, pp.56-60.

WHEN SCORES ARE CLOSE

Tie-breakers

Review the agency’s tie-breaker rules alongside the scoring criteria.

Lowest summed distance to the 3 nearest of: qualifying park, ISD school, grocery store, public library
If still tied, lowest Housing Tax Credit request per Low-Income Unit
If still tied, greatest distance from nearest same-Target-Population HTC development awarded in prior 15 years

BEYOND THE SCORE

Development strategy

Explore the documented considerations behind a competitive application.

Secure QCP support, compare RAF regions

Secure documented support from Neighborhood Organizations touching the site under TDHCA's Quantifiable Community Participation (QCP) process, and compare credit availability across TDHCA's 13 state service regions under the Regional Allocation Formula (Tex. Gov't Code Section 2306.1115) before siting.

TDHCA -- Competitive (9%) Housing Tax Credits ↗

MODEL ASSUMPTIONS

Underwriting parameters

10 TAC §11.302, Underwriting Rules and Guidelines, 2026 QAP pp.157-176 (Operating Feasibility/income/expenses/DCR at §11.302(d), pp.159-166; Total Housing Development Costs, developer fee, contingency, reserves at §11.302(e), pp.166-172; Feasibility Conclusion tests at §11.302(i), pp.174-176). Fee Schedule at §11.901, pp.202-206. Market Analysis Rules at §11.303, pp.176-188. Appraisal Rules at §11.304, pp.188-195.

OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS

Utility allowance

Preferred method: local_pha

TDHCA Housing Choice Voucher Program Utility Allowance Schedule (used as the 'PHA' allowance for properties in TDHCA's own HCV service area, where no municipal/county/regional PHA exists) ↗

2026 QAP (10 TAC Ch.11) §11.204(7)(B) and §11.302(d)(1)(iv), both of which require Utility Allowances to comply with 10 TAC §10.614 (Subchapter F, Compliance Monitoring) -- the substantive UA rule sits outside the QAP itself, in TDHCA's Uniform Multifamily Rules.

YOUR NEXT STEPS

Development guides for Texas

PHASE 1Site sourcing and screening PHASE 2Site control, title, and the diligence clocks PHASE 3Clearing the entitlement gate PHASE 4Picking a credit program and competition bucket PHASE 5Restricted rents and the operating pro forma PHASE 6Cost, construction type and the labor package PHASE 7Building the capital stack and closing the gap PHASE 8Assembling and filing the application PHASE 9The post-award clock: award to carryover PHASE 10Construction, the 10% test, and getting to 8609 PHASE 11Compliance monitoring through the Texas affordability period

Use the LIHTC feasibility checklist →