HUD Addresses Housing Goals in President’s 2024 Budget

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released details about its fiscal year 2024 budget request.

Last week, the Biden Administration released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024, the President’s blueprint to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out, lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and reduce the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share—all while ensuring no one making less than $400,000 per year pays more in taxes.

“The President's 2024 Budget directly supports this historic Administration's goal of building a better America for all. For those of us at HUD, that means addressing homelessness with urgency and ensuring everyone in this country has access to quality affordable housing," said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “The Budget invests in Americans at every station in life–from those seeking to purchase a home to those who receive HUD rental assistance–and will ensure families across the country can live in communities that are safe, affordable, and resilient.”

The 2024 President's Budget requests $73.3 billion for HUD, approximately $1.1 billion more than the 2023 enacted funding level. In addition, it requests $104 billion for new mandatory affordable housing investments.

Specific housing related goals in Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget include:

• Expand the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program and Enhance Household Mobility: Biden’s FY 2024 Budget provides $32.7 billion, an increase of $2.4 billion over the 2023 enacted level, to maintain services for all currently assisted families and to expand assistance to an additional 50,000 households, particularly those who are experiencing homelessness or fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence or other forms of gender-based violence. It provides further expands assistance to another 130,000 households with funding from HCV program reserves and $25 million for mobility-related supportive services to provide low-income families with greater options to move to higher-opportunity neighborhoods.
• Increase Affordable Housing Supply to Reduce Costs: To address the critical shortage of affordable housing in communities throughout the Nation, the Budget provides $1.8 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), an increase of $300 million over the 2023 enacted level, to construct and rehabilitate affordable rental housing and provide homeownership opportunities. In addition, the Budget provides $258 million to support 2,200 units of new permanently affordable housing specifically for the elderly and persons with disabilities, supporting the Administration’s priority to maximize independent living for people with disabilities.
• Advance Efforts to End Homelessness: To prevent and reduce homelessness, the Budget provides $3.7 billion, an increase of $116 million over the 2023 enacted level, for Homeless Assistance Grants to meet renewal needs and expand assistance to approximately 25,000 additional households, including survivors of domestic violence and homeless youth. These targeted resources would support the Administration’s recently released Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. The Budget also provides $505 million for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, serving a population with a disproportionately high rate of homelessness and providing a critical link to services.
• Advance Equity by Preventing and Redressing Housing Discrimination: The Budget provides $90 million to support State and local fair housing enforcement organizations and to further education, outreach, and training on rights and responsibilities under Federal fair housing laws.
• Reduce Costs for New Homeowners and Expand Access to Homeownership: To make homeownership more affordable for underserved borrowers, including first-time, low- to moderate-income and minority homebuyers, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is reducing the annual mortgage insurance premiums new borrowers will pay by about one-third. This action, effective in 2023, will save the average FHA borrower approximately $800 in the first year of their mortgage loan. The Budget also includes $100 million for a HOME down payment assistance pilot to expand homeownership opportunities for first-generation and/or low wealth first-time homebuyers and $15 million to increase the availability of FHA small balance mortgages.

Recently, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led 17 Senate Committee Chairs and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a letter to President Biden requesting that the federal government utilize a “whole-of-government” approach to address our nation’s housing needs.

“Our nation’s housing is an essential piece of our infrastructure, but it is a sector that remains in crisis,” wrote the Senators in the letter. “With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, decisive steps have been taken to address many of our nation’s infrastructure deficiencies. However, more must be done to address the challenges facing the housing sector, where lagging production coupled with aging housing stock are making housing more expensive and unable to meet the needs of all Americans."