By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania is set to spend $10 million on affordable housing in 16 counties.
Most of the money will go out as operating funds for existing housing along with construction for new units.
“Pennsylvanians deserve safe, up-to-code, and accessible spaces to call home,” said Gov. Tom Wolf in a release. “The HOME funding approved today will help provide access to these spaces to individuals across the commonwealth while also revitalizing communities through renter and new homeowner opportunities.”
The federal funds, about $10.3 million, were sent to the Pennsylvania HOME Investment Partnerships Program from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money can be used in different ways for “critical housing needs” and can be for homeownership or rental units.
Northumberland County received the most funds, about $1.5 million, to support the construction of rental units and existing owner-occupied housing in Mt. Carmel Township. Elk County received about $1.4 million for rental unit construction and rehabilitating rental units in the city of St. Mary’s.
Lawrence County also received about $1.2 million to support existing owner-occupied housing in New Castle and Shenango Township. Fayette County also received about $1 million, mostly for rental unit construction.
Operating grants from the HOME funding tended to be in the $200,000 to $400,000 range, while rental unit construction grants tended to be closer to $800,000 to $1 million.
Across the commonwealth, rental costs have been increasing. Central Pennsylvania, northeast Pennsylvania, and southeast Pennsylvania have had notable increases in housing and rent prices, as The Center Square previously reported, and housing prices increased 14% statewide from 2020 to 2021.
One report found that Pennsylvania is missing almost 100,000 units of housing statewide. While some lawmakers have been critical of a lack of action on the state level to make affordable housing more available, more funding was set aside in the last budget.
The commonwealth put $375 million in place for affordable housing, with $100 million marked for affordable housing construction, $125 million for home repairs, and $150 million to offset costs to developers when building multifamily rental properties.