The next presidential election is about four months away. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed that housing affordability is the number one priority for Gen Z voters—and among the top five for Millennial and Gen X voters.
That said, the push to appeal to voters lamenting the heightened cost of homeownership is no guarantee that either of the two major parties will come up with something that actually helps.
Because it’s not enough just to ramp up funding for new construction. Enough of those new homes also have to be affordable for the people currently waiting on the sidelines and struggling to save money for a down payment.
Cue the drum-roll.
The Biden-Harris Administration just released a statement announcing the “first of its kind funding to lower housing costs by reducing barriers to building more homes.”
The funding comes in the form of grants under the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing or PRO Housing. Vice President Harris announced the first recipients of those grants on June 26, 2024.
PRO Housing was created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide federal funding to communities taking action to address barriers to building new homes.
That funding will support updates to state and local housing plans, permitting processes, and land use policies, as well as to increase efforts at building and preserving more affordable housing.
From the HUD press release:
President Biden and I believe that every American deserves affordable housing, so they have a roof over their head and a place to call home. That is why we have a plan to build millions of new units of affordable housing in communities all across our nation, which will bring down the cost of housing for renters and help more Americans buy a home. Today, I am proud to announce that we are taking a critical step forward by investing $85 million to help more than 20 communities throughout our country remove barriers to building more affordable housing.
The latest in a line of Biden-Harris pro-housing announcements
President Biden’s State of the Union address included a call on Congress to pass his and VP Harris’s plan to lower housing costs for working families by funding—
- Construction of two million additional homes
- Increased rental assistance
- Financial assistance for first-time and first-generation homebuyers
The grants announced today focus on breaking down local barriers standing in the way of building more homes and reducing the cost of homeownership, particularly for those most affected by higher housing costs.
PRO Housing applications revealed the common barriers to housing in the U.S., including:
- The high cost of land and development
- Underutilized vacant land and property
- Aging (and deteriorating) housing stock
- Inadequate or antiquated infrastructure
- Displacement pressures
- Risks of extreme weather or environmental hazards
- Outdated land-use and permitting policies and processes
21 Grant winners and what this funding means for them
Applications for PRO Housing grants came from over 175 communities across 47 states and U.S. territories. The Biden-Harris Administration will release another $100 million in PRO Housing grants later this summer.
Meanwhile, HUD is awarding a total of $84,925,899.92 in grants to 21 winners. Those winners include jurisdictions ranging from rural communities with under 5,000 residents to urban counties with millions of people.
In addition to federal grant funding, winners will receive invitations to participate in a “technical assistance cohort to facilitate peer learning and implementation support.”
The 21 communities receiving a PRO Housing grant:
- AL — Montgomery: $3,581,160.00
- CA — Anaheim: $3,497,329.50
- CA — Arcata: $1,000,000.00
- CA — Los Angeles County: $6,700,000.00
- CA — Metropolitan Transportation Commission (Bay Area): $5,000,000.00
- CO — Denver: $4,506,262.00
- DC/ MD/ VA — Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: $3,509,112.00
- HI — State of Hawaii: $6,631,950.56
- IA — Iowa City: $3,752,000.00
- ID — Ketchum: $2,500,000.00
- MA — Metropolitan Area Planning Council: $3,000,000.00
- MN — Metropolitan Council (Twin Cities): $4,000,000.00
- NJ — Newark: $4,000,000.00
- NY — New York City: $3,996,956.80
- OR — Bend: $5,000,000.00
- PA — Philadelphia: $3,329,929.06
- RI — State of Rhode Island: $3,831,200.00
- TN — Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County: $5,000,000.00
- TX — Fort Worth: $5,000,000.00
- WA — Seattle: $5,000,000.00
- WI — Milwaukee: $2,100,000.00
President Biden and Vice President Harris have prioritized reducing housing costs. As I travel across the country, I hear from people all the time, including builders, elected officials, and other stakeholders, about how difficult it is to build housing. This is why I am pleased to announce our first round of PRO Housing funding, which will provide communities with incentives to address their local housing barriers. This expands on our ongoing efforts to lower housing costs by increasing the housing supply.
Read the full White House Fact Sheet and HUD news release for more information.
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