Broome County Could See Relief as New York Opens $62 Million in Housing Aid

If you've tried to find an affordable place to live in Broome County lately, you already know the numbers. Residents here recently ranked affordable housing their top concern, ahead of just about everything else on the list, and it's not hard to see why once you start looking at what's actually available and what it costs. Now there's new state money on the table that local governments and nonprofits can apply for to help chip away at that problem.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that applications are open for more than $62 million in funding through New York State Homes and Community Renewal, part of a broader $25 billion, five-year housing plan aimed at creating or preserving 100,000 affordable homes statewide. The money isn't going directly to individual homeowners. Local governments and not-for-profits apply for it, then use it to run programs that help residents with everything from emergency repairs to down payment assistance.

How Broome County Organizations Can Apply for NY Housing Funds

The funding is split across eight programs, and there's a decent chance at least one applies to a project already on someone's radar locally. The largest chunk, $20 million through NYS HOME, covers acquiring or rehabbing single-family housing, down payment assistance, and replacing dilapidated mobile homes for households at or below 80 percent of Area Median Income. Another $10 million through HOME Homebuyer Development funds the rehab or new construction of up to four single-unit homes for sale to eligible buyers.

A trio of Access to Home programs, totaling $9.5 million, is aimed at accessibility. The core Access to Home program provides $5 million to help people with disabilities make their homes accessible enough to stay in or return to, instead of moving into an institutional setting. Access to Home for Heroes sets aside $3 million for the same kind of accessibility work specifically for veterans with disabilities, and Access to Home for Medicaid Members adds another $1.5 million for Medicaid members with disabilities.

The remaining programs round out the rest. Mobile and Manufactured Home Replacement offers $4 million to help homeowners swap out dilapidated manufactured homes for new ones on land they already own. RESTORE provides $4 million for emergency repairs and code violations affecting older adults, where the issue threatens health, safety, or livability. And the Community Development Block Grant program carries the second-largest allocation, $15 million, funding local programs that renovate owner-occupied homes or upgrade residential infrastructure for low- and moderate-income households.

Why This Funding Matters for Southern Tier Housing Costs

None of this fixes the affordable housing shortage on its own, and anyone who has spent the last year apartment hunting or watching rents climb in Broome County knows that one round of state funding isn't a silver bullet. But for local governments and nonprofits already working on housing here, it's real money aimed at the exact problems residents keep naming as their biggest worry: aging homeowners who can't afford repairs, veterans who need accessibility upgrades, and first-time buyers priced out of a tight market.

HCR Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said the funding is meant to help people stay in their own homes or take the step into renting or buying their first one. Senator Charles Schumer and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal both pointed to the funding as a tool for municipalities and nonprofits to keep people housed while the state works through what has become a statewide affordable housing crisis, not just a Broome County one.

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Where to Apply for New York Housing and Community Renewal Programs

Local governments and not-for-profits interested in applying can find program details through the Office of Community Renewal and submit applications through the Community Development Online Application System. CDBG-specific guidance is available separately through HCR's Community Development Block Grant page.