By Molly Bolan
Housing advocates have praised the president’s budget proposal, which would give housing programs a $1.1 billion bump.
In his budget proposal released Friday, President Joe Biden highlighted housing as a priority, unveiling a plan to boost affordable housing nationwide.
The proposal was praised by housing advocacy groups, who lauded the administration’s plan, in particular, to bump the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget by $1.1 billion to $73.3 billion, a 1.6% increase from fiscal year 2023.
“If enacted, the budget request would provide substantial federal investments in affordable homes and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest needs,” the National Low Income Housing Coalition said in a report last week.
The plan laid out in Biden’s budget proposal specifically calls for investments in the following HUD housing programs:
HOME Investment Partnerships Program
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is one of HUD’s major initiatives aimed at helping state and local governments buy, build and rehabilitate affordable housing. Under Biden’s proposal, funding for HOME would increase by $1.6 billion, a $300 million increase over the previous year.
According to HUD, the requested funding would build nearly 15,000 units of affordable housing for new homebuyers; provide 13,300 units of newly constructed and rehabilitated affordable rental units; allow 6,622 units of owner-occupied rehabilitated housing for low-income homeowners; and provide rental assistance for nearly 12,000 low-income households; and preserve or create more than 32,000 jobs.
