HOME Investment Partnerships Program

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	What's New
HOME FACTS Vol. 2, No. 3 : May, 2009 This issue of HOME FACTS explains the process field office staff must follow to determine each participating jurisdiction’s (PJ's) compliance with HOME's commitment, CHDO reservation, and expenditure requirements both prior to and after the PJs deadline date, and provides timeframes for this review.   HOMEfires Vol. 10, No. 2 : February, 2009 Does the recently issued final rule on "Refinement of Income and Rent Determination Requirements in Public and Assisted Housing Programs" affect the way that Participating Jurisdictions (PJ) determine income-eligibility of HOME participants?   HOME FACTS Vol. 2, No. 2 : February, 2009 The purpose of this issue of HOME FACTS is to notify all HOME participating jurisdictions (PJs) about the September 30, 2009, expiration of the right to draw down Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 HOME grant funds. As of that date, any unexpended balances in FY 2002 grants will be recaptured by the United States Treasury. This deadline and expenditure requirement has been established by the U.S. Treasury, and is in addition to the HOME program's regulatory 5-year disbursement requirement.   Expiring Funds Reports This new weekly report has been developed to assist PJs in identifying FY 2002 and older grant balances, the Office of Affordable Housing Programs (OAHP) will post a weekly report identifying each PJ that has a grant balance for FY 2002 and earlier. more...

HOME Program Summary

HOME is authorized under Title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, as amended. Program regulations are at 24 CFR Part 92. The HOME program final rule is available electronically. Additional information about the HOME program can be found by visiting the HOME program web pages.

HOME provides formula grants to States and localities that communities use-often in partnership with local nonprofit groups-to fund a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership or provide direct rental assistance to low-income people.

Purpose

HOME is the largest Federal block grant to State and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. Each year it allocates approximately $2 billion among the States and hundreds of localities nationwide. The program was designed to reinforce several important values and principles of community development:

	HOME's flexibility empowers people and communities to design and implement strategies tailored to their own needs and priorities.
	HOME's emphasis on consolidated planning expands and strengthens partnerships among all levels of government and the private sector in the development of affordable housing.
	HOME's technical assistance activities and set-aside for qualified community-based nonprofit housing groups builds the capacity of these partners.
	HOME's requirement that participating jurisdictions (PJs) match 25 cents of every dollar in program funds mobilizes community resources in support of affordable housing.

Types of Assistance

HOME funds are awarded annually as formula grants to participating jurisdictions. HUD establishes HOME Investment Trust Funds for each grantee, providing a line of credit that the jurisdiction may draw upon as needed. The program's flexibility allows States and local governments to use HOME funds for grants, direct loans, loan guarantees or other forms of credit enhancement, or rental assistance or security deposits.

Eligible Grantees

States are automatically eligible for HOME funds and receive either their formula allocation or $3 million, whichever is greater. Local jurisdictions eligible for at least $500,000 under the formula ($335,000 in years when Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for HOME) also can receive an allocation. Communities that do not qualify for an individual allocation under the formula can join with one or more neighboring localities in a legally binding consortium whose members' combined allocation would meet the threshold for direct funding. Other localities may participate in HOME by applying for program funds made available by their State. Congress sets aside a pool of funding, equivalent to the greater of $750,000 or 0.2 percent of appropriated funds, which HUD distributes among insular areas.

Eligible Customers

The eligibility of households for HOME assistance varies with the nature of the funded activity. For rental housing and rental assistance, at least 90 percent of benefiting families must have incomes that are no more than 60 percent of the HUD-adjusted median family income for the area. In rental projects with five or more assisted units, at least 20% of the units must be occupied by families with incomes that do not exceed 50% of the HUD-adjusted median. The incomes of households receiving HUD assistance must not exceed 80 percent of the area median. HOME income limits are published each year by HUD.

Eligible Activities

Participating jurisdictions may choose among a broad range of eligible activities, using HOME funds to provide home purchase or rehabilitation financing assistance to eligible homeowners and new homebuyers; build or rehabilitate housing for rent or ownership; or for "other reasonable and necessary expenses related to the development of non-luxury housing," including site acquisition or improvement, demolition of dilapidated housing to make way for HOME-assisted development, and payment of relocation expenses. PJs may use HOME funds to provide tenant-based rental assistance contracts of up to 2 years if such activity is consistent with their Consolidated Plan and justified under local market conditions. This assistance may be renewed. Up to 10 percent of the PJ's annual allocation may be used for program planning and administration.

HOME-assisted rental housing must comply with certain rent limitations. HOME rent limits are published each year by HUD. The program also establishes maximum per unit subsidy limits and maximum purchase-price limits.

Some special conditions apply to the use of HOME funds. PJs must match every dollar of HOME funds used (except for administrative costs) with 25 cents from nonfederal sources, which may include donated materials or labor, the value of donated property, proceeds from bond financing, and other resources. The match requirement may be reduced if the PJ is distressed or has suffered a Presidentially declared disaster. In addition, PJs must reserve at least 15 percent of their allocations to fund housing to be owned, developed, or sponsored by experienced, community-driven nonprofit groups designated as Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). PJs must ensure that HOME-funded housing units remain affordable in the long term (20 years for new construction of rental housing; 5-15 years for construction of homeownership housing and housing rehabilitation, depending on the amount of HOME subsidy). PJs have two years to commit funds (including reserving funds for CHDOs) and five years to spend funds.

Application

Program funds are allocated to units of general local government on the basis of a formula that considers the relative inadequacy of each jurisdiction's housing supply, its incidence of poverty, its fiscal distress, and other factors. Shortly after HOME funds become available each year, HUD informs eligible jurisdictions of the amounts earmarked for them. Participating jurisdictions must have a current and approved Consolidated Plan, which will include an action plan that describes how the jurisdiction will use its HOME funds. A newly eligible jurisdiction also must formally notify HUD of its intent to participate in the program.