President Joe Biden’s proposed budget promises moderate-level financing of some affordable senior housing programs.
“Because of strict budget caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the administration’s budget balances mostly level funding with proposals for new initiatives for aging services, including on workforce, Medicaid, immigration and affordable housing,” LeadingAge said.
“Overall, the president proposed relatively flat funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) but included a number of bold initiatives for housing affordability and access, including for older adults,” LeadingAge added.
According to a fact sheet provided by the White House, the budget provides for increases in the supply of affordable housing financed by existing HUD programs. The proposed budget provides $1.25 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program to construct and rehabilitate affordable rental housing and provide home ownership opportunities.
“This investment would help create or preserve 12,000 units of housing and provide more than 6,000 households with tenant-based rental assistance,” the White House said. “In addition, the budget provides $931 million to support housing for older adults and $257 million to support housing for persons with disabilities.”
The proposed budget provides $2.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture’s housing programs. That’s an increase of $191 million over the 2023 enacted level, the White House said.
The president’s proposed budget also proposes a one-time $7.5 billion investment to address the capital needs of more than 100,000 distressed public housing properties nationwide, which is on top of the recurring annual investments of $8.5 billion to enable public housing agencies to operate, maintain and make capital improvements to the approximately 900,000 public housing units.
“Providing additional funds for public housing rehabilitation and modernization is critical to providing safe and sustainable living conditions for all — and to ensuring housing shortages aren’t exacerbated,” the White House said.
