This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a “package of 29 regulatory and administrative waivers aimed at helping communities in Florida accelerate their recovery from Hurricane Idalia.”
U.S. HUD Sec. Marcia Fudge announced the package, which includes waivers for a host of programs, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Continuum of Care (CoC) and Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP).
“My thoughts are with the families whose homes were lost or had extensive damage caused by Hurricane Idalia,” said Fudge. “The Biden-Harris administration is committed to giving our state and local partners resources and these waivers will help the people in their communities immediately rebuild their homes.”
“To expedite the use of these funds, HUD’s state and local partners can now access a waiver through a new simplified notification process,” HUD announced. “Through this waiver package, HUD is providing flexibility by: allowing new housing construction with CDBG funding in declared disaster areas; suspending the CDBG public services cap to provide additional support services related to the effects of the disaster on individuals and families; waiving the HOME matching contribution requirements and CHDO set aside to expeditiously provide housing to displaced persons and repair properties damaged by the disaster; providing flexibility in HOME tenant-based rental assistance requirements to reduce the burden for those seeking assistance” and “extending term limits for certain types of assistance, including CDBG emergency grant payments and ESG rental assistance.”
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