The HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use – often in partnership with local nonprofit groups – to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or homeownership or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people. It is the largest Federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households.

States are automatically eligible for HOME funds and receive either their formula allocation or $3 million, whichever is greater. Local jurisdictions eligible for at least $500,000 under the formula ($335,000 in years when Congress appropriates less than $1.5 billion for HOME) also can receive an allocation. The formula allocation considers the relative inadequacy of each jurisdiction’s housing supply, its incidence of poverty, its fiscal distress, and other factors.

The City receives HOME funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and grants a portion of these funds to 501(c)(3) organizations through a competitive request for proposals process.

Participating jurisdictions (PJ), like the City, may choose among a broad range of eligible activities, using HOME funds to provide home purchase or rehabilitation financing assistance to eligible homeowners and new homebuyers; build or rehabilitate housing for rent or ownership; or for “other reasonable and necessary expenses related to the development of non-luxury housing,” including site acquisition or improvement, demolition of dilapidated housing to make way for HOME-assisted development, and payment of relocation expenses. PJs may use HOME funds to provide tenant-based rental assistance contracts of up to 2 years if such activity is consistent with their Consolidated Plan and justified under local market conditions. This assistance may be renewed. Up to 10 percent of the PJ’s annual allocation may be used for program planning and administration.

HOME-assisted rental housing must comply with certain rent limitations. HOME rent limits are published each year by HUD. The program also establishes maximum per unit subsidy limits and homeownership value limits.

The eligibility of households for HOME assistance varies with the nature of the funded activity. For rental housing and rental assistance, at least 90 percent of benefiting families must have incomes that are no more than 60 percent of the HUD-adjusted median family income for the area. In rental projects with five or more assisted units, at least 20% of the units must be occupied by families with incomes that do not exceed 50% of the HUD-adjusted median. The incomes of households receiving HUD assistance must not exceed 80 percent of the area median. HOME income limits are published each year by HUD.

The values for the City and County of Honolulu are below:

• 2020 HOME Income Limits
• 2020 Low-HOME and High-HOME Rent Limits
• 2020 Maximum Per Unit HOME Subsidy Limits
• Annual Income and Rent Template Calculator Worksheet