The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is initiating two new actions intended to lower housing costs in the U.S. by increasing the supply of affordable housing. The measures include an $85 million "first-of-its-kind" grant program, according to a July 27 news release.

“HUD recognizes that communities have unique housing challenges and that’s why the resources announced today are not one size fits all," HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in the release. "HUD is proud to highlight the efforts of communities who are committed to housing-forward policies and practices, and, through PRO Housing, we hope to support them with funding as well."

The agency announced the actions July 27, stating the measures "follow through on commitments made by the Biden-Harris Administration in its Housing Supply Action Plan, with the key objective of lowering the cost of housing for all Americans," the release said. HUD's first action is the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program.

PRO Housing is an $85 million competitive grant program to "help communities further develop, evaluate and implement housing policy plans; address restrictive zoning, land use or regulatory policies; improve housing strategies; and facilitate affordable housing production and preservation," according to the release.

Local governments, states, metropolitan planning organizations and "multijurisdictional entities" can apply for grants from $1 million to $10 million, the release stated.

With its second action, HUD will provide new tools to repair and build affordable housing to public-housing authorities and owners of multifamily housing units taking part in Rental Assistance Demonstration. HUD's supplemental RAD notice gives housing providers more flexibility and will improve RAD's capacity to fund repairs for thousands of affordable houses over the next three years, according to the release. 

The updated RAD notice also encourages investments in energy- and water-efficiency and includes new requirements regarding climate resilience and the adoption of more stringent standards for energy efficiency. The notice includes $12 million for "preservation transactions of eligible housing for the elderly," the release said.

These steps build on HUD's previous accomplishments, which include restarting the Risk Sharing program, which has helped preserve and create 12,000 affordable homes since its reinstitution, and giving local governments $5 billion for the HOME-ARP program, which will build over 20,000 new affordable homes for veterans, those who are homeless, dealing with housing insecurity, and those who are fleeing domestic violence.

"Today, we are acting to increase the supply of affordable housing," Fudge said in the release, "which is crucial to lowering housing costs. We look forward to continuing this work in partnership with local communities.”