Summary:
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 more than $1 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.

Type 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.

Descriptions of planned and recently implemented activities undertaken by individual grantees with HOME funds are described in summaries of each community's Consolidated Plan.

Funding Status:
FY 1996, $1.4 billion; FY 1997, $1.4 billion (includes $15 million for Housing Counseling Program; FY 1998, $ 1.5 billion (includes $20 million for Housing Counseling, $10 million for homeownership demonstration, and $7 million for information systems); FY 1999, $1.6 billion (includes $17.5 million for Housing Counseling, $29 million for technical assistance and $7 million for information systems).

Allocations by State and participating jurisdiction.

Technical Guidance:
HOME is authorized under Title II of the Cranston-Gonzales 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 is administered by the Office of Affordable Housing Programs, Office of Community Planning and Development, located at 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410, (202) 708-2470. Hearing impaired users may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

For More Information:
General-CPD publishes a general program guide and brochure on HOME. In addition, HUD has published 14 model program guides on planning and implementing specific types of HOME-funded activities, available free from Community Connections (1-800-998-9999).

Research-In 1995 the HUD Office of Policy Development and Research published a preliminary research report on HOME called Implementing Block Grants for Housing: An Evaluation of the First Year of HOME (HUD-6814) available from HUD USER (1-800-245-2691, TDD: 1-800-483-2209).

Success Stories:
Through the John J. Gunther Blue Ribbon Practices in Community Development awards, HUD recognizes the most notable and innovative practices in community development, including highly successful uses of HOME funds. To access these awards, enter the "Blue Ribbon menu page" and type "HOME" in the search engine.