Adds $391 Million for New York's Emergency Rental Assistance Program to Support Thousands More Tenants and Families, Including New York City Housing Authority Residents and Section 8 Voucher Recipients
Creates Nation-Leading Program to Combat Childhood Lead Exposure in Residential Buildings in 24 High-Risk Areas
Expands Governor's Pioneering Buffalo Program Statewide With $50 Million Homeowner Stabilization Fund to Support Critical Home Repairs in 10 High-Need Communities
Provides $40 Million for the Homeowner Protection Program to Assist Homeowners in Default and Foreclosure in Every County of the State
Establishes New Tenant Protection Unit Satellite Office in Upstate New York to Provide Further Guidance, Advocacy and Support to New York Tenants
Provides $50 Million for Legal Services and Representation for Eviction Cases Statewide
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced new efforts to support homeowners and tenants, including public and subsidized housing residents, as part of the FY 2024 Budget. The plan includes investments in rental assistance that will support residents of subsidized housing, including public housing, who struggled to pay rent in the pandemic; a nation-leading program to combat childhood lead exposure in residential buildings in high-risk areas across New York State; the expansion of a successful homeowner support program tailored to high-need communities; further support to help homeowners stay in their homes; a new Upstate satellite office for New York State Homes and Community Renewal's Tenant Protection Unit, and funding for legal services and representation for eviction cases statewide. Together, these initiatives reflect the Governor's continued efforts to combat New York's housing crisis in innovative ways and provide critical support to New York renters, homeowners, and vulnerable populations.
"In light of a deepening housing crisis, this budget provides new and continued support to help New York renters and homeowners struggling to make ends meet," Governor Hochul said. "I am pleased to have reached an agreement with the legislature to offer rent arrears assistance to subsidized housing residents, including public housing residents, fund critical home repairs in high-need areas, combat childhood lead exposure in impacted communities, expand the state's tenant protection services and help homeowners keep their homes, but there is even more we must do to meet the scale of our housing crisis. I will not stop fighting to address our housing crisis, unlock our housing potential, and make our state more affordable for all New Yorkers, and I will continue to work closely with the Legislature and other stakeholders toward that goal."
Helping Renters Transition to a Post-Pandemic World
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragile connection many New Yorkers have to equitable housing, prompting the State to administer programs that helped keep people in their homes and stave off financial ruin. The FY 2024 Budget infuses New York's Emergency Rental Assistance Program with $391 million to support additional tenants and families, including NYCHA and other public housing residents and recipients of federal Section 8 vouchers. This funding will complement other investments in the Budget to support public housing residents, such as a $135 million capital investment for the New York City Housing Authority. The FY 2024 Budget also includes appropriation authority in case the Federal government reallocates additional Federal funds to ERAP.
Through April 2023, ERAP has provided nearly $3 billion in housing and utility support for 237,500 struggling New York households. Additionally, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) continues to make payments through State-funded programs totaling $250 million for renters who do not meet the income criteria of ERAP, as well as for landlords whose tenants have left their rental property or who are unwilling to apply for ERAP.
Protecting Against Childhood Lead Exposure
The FY 2024 Budget also creates a nation-leading program to combat childhood lead exposure in New York residential buildings in 24 of the highest risk areas outside of New York City. The program, first proposed by Governor Hochul in her State of the State Address, requires certain multi-family residential buildings to be certified as free of lead paint hazards every three years. The Department of Health will create a registry of buildings certified as lead safe and require the remediation of lead-based paint hazards.
Supporting New York Homeowners
New York's housing crisis has had a significant impact on homebuyers and homeowners. In the New York City metro area, home prices have risen 50 percent since 2015. Outside of New York City, home prices have risen 50 to 80 percent. The FY 2024 budget adds funding support for homeowners to help New Yorkers manage the rising cost of homeownership.
The FY 2024 Budget adds $50 million for a Homeowner Stabilization Fund to finance home repairs in 10 communities across the state that have been identified as having high levels of low-income homeowners of color and homeowner distress. The program is modeled on the $10 million Buffalo East Homeowner Improvement Program, announced by Governor Hochul in July 2022, which granted awards of up to $35,000 to low-income homeowners in communities of color.
The FY 2024 Budget also adds $40 million for the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP). HOPP provides funding to dozens of nonprofit housing counseling and legal services organizations around the state to help homeowners in default and foreclosure. HOPP supports a range of services to help keep New Yorkers in their homes in every county of the state.
Increasing Tenant Protection Services for Renters Statewide
The FY 2024 Budget establishes a brand-new satellite office for the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal's Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) in Upstate New York. TPU already provides guidance, advocacy, and legal support for a diverse range of tenants across the state. By opening a new office closer to populations it serves outside of New York City, the TPU will be even better positioned to provide on-the-ground support to such vulnerable renter populations as manufactured home tenants, farmworkers, and other populations in need throughout the state.
This investment builds on more than a decade of successful TPU programming. Since 2012, the TPU has opened hundreds of investigations including several high-profile matters that were litigated, referred to law-enforcement partners, resulted in the issuance of TPU subpoenas, or led to rent audits. The TPU also has launched a large-scale registration enforcement program to further target owners who are not complying with the registration requirements. In addition to its enforcement activities, the TPU works with community organizers, legal services organizations, and tenant groups to hold workshops and resource fairs to educate tenants about their rights under the rent regulation laws.
The Budget provides additional protection for tenants by including $50 million for legal services and representation for eviction cases statewide.
FY 2023 Housing Plan
The FY 2024 Budget continues the Governor's $25 billion comprehensive Housing Plan, approved in the FY 2023 Budget, to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes across New York including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations, plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes.