Rental Housing Programs

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HOME funds can be used to create affordable rental housing opportunities for low-income tenants. HOME PJs may work directly with developers to construct or rehabilitate rental projects, or they may work through local units of government and nonprofit organizations who select and oversee project development in local jurisdictions.

Whichever program design a PJ elects to implement, any HOME-funded rental program and the housing it produces must meet HOME Program requirements applicable to rental housing, including:

Eligible activities. For rental housing programs using HOME funds, eligible activities include the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of affordable rental housing.

	Forms of assistance. PJs may structure HOME assistance for rental housing programs using any of the forms of HOME assistance listed in Subsidies under Basic HOME Provisions.
	Eligible costs. The HOME Program allows hard and soft costs as well as refinancing for rental activities.
	Maximum HOME investments. The HOME Program imposes a minimum per-unit subsidy on rental units. These maximum subsides vary by area and can be obtained from Local HUD Field Offices.
	Eligible property types. HOME rental projects may be one or more buildings on a single site or multiple sites that are under common ownership, management, and financing.
	Property standards. Rental properties that use HOME funds must meet certain standards.
	Long term affordability requirements. For rental projects, these are based on the amount of HOME funds provided for each unit.
	Rent and occupancy requirements. The HOME Program has rent and occupancy requirements that serve to keep rental housing projects affordable for low-income people. These requirements include high and low rents, utility allowances and maximum unit rents, and lease provisions.
	Tenant requirements. To be eligible to live in a HOME-assisted unit, a tenant must be low income.
	Inspection requirements. The HOME Program requires on-site inspections of HOME-assisted properties according to the number of units in the project. Inspections are required every three years for 1-4 unit properties, every two years for 5-25 unit properties, and annually for properties with 26 or more units.
	Other Federal requirements. HUD's HOME training manual, Building HOME: A HOME Program Primer, provides detailed information about each of the requirements described in the Building HOME table.