Trump administration halts $1 billion programme that keeps aging affordable housing livable
The Hindu
The Trump administration is halting a $1 billion programme that helps preserve affordable housing, threatening projects that keep tens of thousands of units livable for low-income Americans.
The Trump administration is halting a $1 billion programme that helps preserve affordable housing, threatening projects that keep tens of thousands of units livable for low-income Americans.
The action is part of a slew of cuts and funding freezes at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, largely at the direction of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, that have rattled the affordable-housing industry.
Preserving these units gets less attention than ribbon-cuttings, but it's a centre-piece of efforts to address the nation's housing crisis. Hundreds of thousands of low-rent apartments, many of them aging and in need of urgent repair, are at risk of being yanked out from under poor Americans.
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The programme has already awarded the money to projects that would upgrade at least 25,000 affordable units across the country, and details of how it will be wound down remain unclear.
A spokesperson for HUD did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But an internal document reviewed by the AP said that the programme is being “terminated” at the direction of DOGE. Two HUD workers, who have knowledge of the programme and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, confirmed the directive to shutter it.
On it's face, the over $1 billion Green and Resilient Retrofit Programme, passed by Congress in 2022, is intended for energy-efficiency improvements. It is distributed in grants and loans to owners of affordable housing in need of updating, including replacing or repairing heating and cooling systems, leaky roofs, aging insulation or windows, or undertaking flood-proofing.
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