Department of Housing & Human Services
  1. Housing
  2. Affordable Housing
  3. Funding for Affordable Housing (State and Federal)

Funding for Affordable Housing (State and Federal)

The State of California Housing and Community Development (HCD)

HCD creates rental and homeownership opportunities for Californians from all walks of life, including veterans, seniors, young families starting out, people with disabilities, farmworkers, and individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness through numerous grant and loan programs. Over the last three decades, HCD has provided more than $3 billion of funding for the development of affordable housing and associated infrastructure, but HCD’s role does not end once the awards are made. Through long-term monitoring, HCD ensures the developments continue to provide safe and affordable homes, and that the homes remain well-maintained and financially sound.

 

Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA)

Provides a permanent source of funding to all local governments in California to help cities and counties implement plans to increase the affordable housing stock.

  1. Funding will help cities and counties:
    1. Increase the supply of housing for households at or below 60% of area median income
    2. Increase assistance to affordable owner-occupied workforce housing
    3. Assist persons experiencing or at risk of homelessness
    4. Facilitate housing affordability, particularly for lower- and moderate-income households
    5. Promote projects and programs to meet the local government’s unmet share of regional housing needs allocation
    6. Ensure geographic equity in the distribution of the funds
  2. To be added to the City’s Notice of Funding Availability list when funding is available, please email your contact information to [email protected].
  3. For more information on HCD’s affordable housing loan and grant programs, visit HCD's Grants and Funding.

 

No Place Like Home (NPLH)

  1. On July 1, 2016, Governor Brown signed landmark legislation enacting the No Place Like Home program to dedicate up to $2 billion in bond proceeds to invest in the development of permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of chronic homelessness.
  2. Key features of the program include:
    • Counties will be eligible applicants (either solely or with a housing development sponsor).
    • Funding for permanent supportive housing must utilize low barrier tenant selection practices that prioritize vulnerable populations and offer flexible, voluntary, and individualized supportive services.
    • Counties must commit to provide mental health services and help coordinate access to other community-based supportive services.
  3. For more information on NPLH funds for potential permanent supportive housing projects located in Riverside County, please visit Riverside Unified Health System - Behavioral Health.

 

California Tax Credit Allocations Committee (CTCAC)

  1. Two types of federal tax credits are available and are generally referred to as nine percent (9%) and four percent (4%) credits. Each number refers to the approximate percentage that is multiplied against a project’s requested “qualified basis” to determine the amount of annual federal credits CTCAC will award the project. 
  2. 4% tax credits derive from a project’s use of tax-exempt bond authority allocated by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) and are limited only by the amount of bond cap available to California.   CTCAC awards 4% tax credits non-competitively (i.e., over-the-counter) to all projects that meet threshold criteria
  3. For more information on tax credits, please visit https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac/.

 

Existing Vacant Lots (Housing Authority)

Pursuant to AB1486, on March 11, 2020 the Housing Authority issued a statewide Request for Proposals for its current inventory of 10 properties. Housing Authority properties are located throughout the City, and typically ae one-half acre or smaller. Many of the sites have attributes that make them difficult to develop; ranging from substantial offsite requirements to inconsistent zoning. The Authority has been working with Habitat for Humanity, HomeAid, and other housing organizations that specialize in smaller projects, to redevelop the properties in its inventory. Moreover, the Authority is teaming with the Planning Division to address possible zoning issues for properties in its land inventory with the goal of redeveloping the parcels in a way that makes costs feasible.

Citywide, it is estimated that Riverside has approximately 1,500 infill lots that could be examined for future housing development. As the cost of developing a small project increases beyond $350,000/door many smaller sites become infeasible because of cost. The City is examining new tools to address entitlement requirements, and tools such as the aggregation of projects, that would provide non-monetary incentives to make development of infill lots easier.

 

U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Funding

  1. HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program
    1. The City of Riverside receives an annual allocation of HOME Program funds to support 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.
    2. The City receives an annual allocation from HUD based on a formula allocation that considers relative inadequacy of each jurisdiction's housing supply, its incidence of poverty, its fiscal distress, and other factors.
    3. To be added to the City’s Notice of Funding Availability list when funding is available, please email your contact information to [email protected].
    4. URL:
  2. Section 8 Project Based Vouchers (PBVs)
    1. PBVs are a component of a public housing agency’s (PHA’s) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. PHAs uses its tenant-based voucher funding to allocated project based units to a project. Projects are typically selected for PBVs through a competitive process managed by the PHA; although in certain cases projects may be selected non-competitively.
    2. A PHA can use up to 20 percent of its authorized voucher units to project-base units in a specific project if the owner agrees to either rehabilitate or construct the units, or the owner agrees to set-aside a portion of the units in an existing development.  In certain cases, the PHA may use an additional 10 percent of its authorized voucher units for PBV assistance. 
    3. PHAs will enter into a Housing Assistance Program contracts for 15-20 years year terms and may agree to extend the initial or renewed HAP contract for up to 20 additional years. PHAs refer eligible tenants from its Housing Choice Voucher waiting list to private landlords for available units.
    4. For more information on the Section 8 Project Based Vouchers, contact the Riverside County Housing Authority at (951) 351-0700.
    5. URL:
  3. Other HUD Grant Opportunities
    1. HUD awards discretionary funding through over 20 Grant programs that support HUD initiatives, including Affordable Housing Development and Preservation, Community and Economic Development, Environment and Energy, Fair Housing, Homelessness, Homeownership, Rental Assistance, and Supportive Housing and Services.
    2. When new funding becomes available for these programs, HUD release a NOFA that describes the type of funding available on a competitive basis and provides a contact where an application may be submitted, typically up to 60 to 90 days from the date of NOFA publication. Selection will then be made based upon specific factors and criteria identified within the
    3. To view HUD’s NOFAs, visit Funding Opportunities.
    4. URL:
  4. Surplus Property Disposition (State) – HCD link
    1. One of the challenges in building new affordable homes is acquiring land suitable for housing. In 2019, Governor Newsom took several actions to make state and local public lands available for affordable housing development including:
      1. An executive order to make excess state land available for affordable housing (Executive Order N-06-19)
      2. Connecting affordable housing developers to local surplus land and strengthening enforcement of the Surplus Lands Act (AB 1486, Ting, 2019)
      3. Requiring cities and counties to inventory and report surplus and excess local public lands to include in a statewide inventory (AB 1255, Robert Rivas, 2019)
    2. If you are a developer and are interested purchasing or leasing surplus local land including the City’s Housing Authority properties for affordable housing, please visit the State of California's public lands for affordable housing website.