Brady PieperThe U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced two new funding opportunities totaling $350 million to support initiatives to boost housing options nationwide.
The agency is making $100 million available to local communities through its Pathways to Removing Obstacles for Housing Competition (PRO) and $250 million toward a new program titled the “Legacy Challenge.”
The second round of funding through the PRO Housing Competition offers state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and multijurisdictional entities between $1 million and $7 million. The grants’ purpose is to make it easier to address restrictive regulatory processes associated with residential zoning and permitting new builds. The competition also provides grants to communities looking to renovate older homes and cut energy costs.
“This funding is designed to cut red tape, and make sure that we’re building more homes, especially affordable homes, with urgency because people need help now,” HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman said.
Funding will be prioritized to communities with an acute need for affordable housing and that have already demonstrated a commitment to affordable housing laws and regulations.
The deadline to apply is Oct. 15.
The first round of funding distributed by the PRO Housing Competition gave communities nearly $85 million in grant funding to communities across 19 states and the District of Columbia.
The Legacy Challenge program will make $250 million available to communities trying to transform and revitalize their older neighborhoods.
Accessible to current Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients, the Legacy Challenge provides up to five times a community’s CDBGs through the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program (Section 108).
The HUD is “challenging” local mayors and governors to utilize this unique form of funding to make housing more affordable for consumers by redeveloping pre-existing communities.
The funds can be utilized in different ways:
- Adaptive reuse, rezoning commercial-to-residential spaces.
- Preservation or rehabilitation of existing units.
- Developing home-supporting infrastructure.
- Housing developments.
- Eligible housing uses with mixed-use or transient developments.
- Removing loan pools to support local housing developments.
The application deadline is July 1, 2025, but applicants that show interest prior to Nov. 1 will receive additional repayment options and waivers to streamline the process.
Photo by Brett VA
