PROVIDENCE, RI – Housing experts estimate that nationwide, the U.S. is short somewhere between 3.8 million and 6.8 million homes.  Now, a new federal grant is being awarded to help Rhode Island overcome its deficit of dwellings and improve the Ocean State’s home building outlook.

As state leaders tackle Rhode Island’s lack of affordable housing options, Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation today joined with Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi in announcing the award of a $3.8 million federal housing grant for the Ocean State to address various barriers to affordable housing and ease housing burdens for working families.

To help the state reverse its increasing lack of housing affordability, Rhode Island has been selected for a competitive Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

The majority of funding will go toward expanding the state’s Health Equity Zone (HEZ) housing program in both Bristol County and Washington County.  In July 2022, Rhode Island launched a HEZ Housing pilot with six HEZ communities to a develop a pipeline of affordable, supportive housing units in some of the most housing cost burdened communities across the state.  Each HEZ community received funding to contract with a local community developer and convene a stakeholder group that included resident leaders, municipalities/zoning officials, public housing authorities, home stabilization service providers, and local community-based organizations. The broader community was engaged frequently through listening sessions that provided residents with a voice and a healthy neighborhoods workgroup.

In partnership with the Health Equity Zones in Bristol and Washington County, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Rhode Island Department of Housing will implement strategic approaches to advance the identification and development of community appropriate affordable housing projects with a specific focus on accessibility, proximity to transit, co-location of community supportive services, economic opportunity of future residents, access to quality education, environmental hazard mitigation, access to staple goods, and longevity of affordability.

“Rhode Island’s housing shortage is clear and persistent and needs to be addressed so working people can afford to live here and raise a family.  State and local leaders, led by Speaker Shekarchi, worked together to develop a strong PRO Housing grant application and we are pleased HUD chose Rhode Island for this highly competitive award.  This federal funding will help Rhode Island increase the availability and affordability of housing.  The federal funds can help the state tackle housing challenges by planning transit-oriented development, streamlining permitting and addressing gaps in financing, and more,” said U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo in a joint statement.

Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation helped Congress appropriate $185 million for the PRO Housing grant program this year.  HUD is allocating a total of $85 million in PRO Housing grant funding in this round and plans to award $100 million later this year during a second round of the competitive application process.

“Our federal delegation continuously delivers for Rhode Island. Thanks to their advocacy, the PRO Housing grant will enable more working Rhode Islanders to achieve the dream of having a safe, sustainable home,” said Speaker Shekarchi. “Addressing our housing crisis requires partnership at all levels. I am grateful that Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as Congressmen Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, understand the severity of Rhode Island’s housing shortage and are tremendous partners in finding solutions to making housing more accessible.”

A 2016 report by Roger Williams University’s HousingWorks RI that was commissioned by RIHousing noted the Ocean State needed to build 34,610 to 40,230 housing units over the next decade to keep pace with demand. But only half that amount have been added.  In fact, Rhode Island built fewer new homes per capita in 2022 than any other state and was last in new permits issued per capita in 2023.

Rhode Island’s PRO Housing application builds on a number of recent, major steps the state has taken to lower barriers to new development and create more affordable housing. This includes: creating a new Department of Housing to craft statewide housing policies and lead efforts to expand housing supply; investing nearly 30 percent ($321.5 million) of Rhode Island’s State Fiscal Recovery Fund allotment in housing development and homeless assistance programs; creating a new $30 million state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; and enacting a package of 13 housing reform bills.

HUD received considerable interest in the first round of PRO Housing funding. Applications were submitted from more than 175 communities – representing a wide variety of demographics, geographies and population sizes – across 47 States and territories.