Improving the Housing Ecosystem and Prioritizing Homeownership
- Passed a $120-million housing bond on the November 2024 ballot to make housing more affordable and accessible to Rhode Islanders; 65.5 percent of voters approved this ballot measure. As the largest housing bond in Rhode Island’s history, this bond would provide $80 million for affordable housing, $20 million for homeownership programs, $10 million for acquisition and revitalization, $5 million for site acquisition, $4 million for housing-related infrastructure, and $1 million for municipal planning.
- Allocated $219 million in federal State Fiscal Recovery Funds (SFRF) for the production and preservation of housing units in the FY 2023-2025 enacted budgets.
- Awarded funding to help finance over 2,300 units as of October 2024, including over 1,900 homes that are affordable and over 180 middle income units.
- Established new and innovative grant programs, including the Priority Projects Fund, which supports projects that are difficult to complete with conventional financing and prioritize vulnerable populations such as lower income Rhode Islanders, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans.
- Added new funding to well-established and much-needed housing architecture.
- Established a $30-million Statewide Down Payment Assistance Program with SFRF to provide first-time homebuyers in Rhode Island with grants to assist with down payment and closing costs, often some of the greatest hurdles individuals and families face during the process of purchasing a home.
- Helped over 1,600 families and individuals become new homeowners across 35 of Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities through this key resource, which helps first-time homebuyers facing a challenging housing market. Over 40 percent of these grant beneficiaries were minority households. All funds were spent as of July 2024.
- Created the first-ever State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (S-LIHTC) in Rhode Island, which provides a tax incentive for developers to expand housing options for low-income households and has a statewide annual allocation of up to $30 million.
- Signed a housing legislation package aimed at producing more homes for Rhode Islanders at every income level by streamlining and removing obstacles in the planning, zoning, and development processes at the municipal level, including legislation that allows homeowners the right to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property.
- Increased municipal permitting activity to 2,453 residential units in 2023, according to Housing Works RI’s building permit survey. This is more than a 1,000-unit increase from 2022 and is the largest number of residential units permitted in a single year since 2005 (just before the Great Recession).
- Established the Municipal Fellows Program, a new housing development-focused initiative, to provide support to cities and towns with planning, zoning, and/or development capacity to increase housing development.
- Developed a Home Repair Program to assist homeowners in distressed areas with necessary residential repair and rehabilitation costs, including electrical, heating, energy improvements, accessibility improvements, roofing repair/replacement, lead hazard reduction, and plumbing improvements.
- Developed the Turnkey Affordable Homeownership Program to help address the need for increased affordable homeownership opportunities in Rhode Island and to streamline the process for the development of low-to moderate- income homes. The RIHousing program will provide gap financing to developers once a Certificate of Occupancy is obtained and a deed- restriction is recorded, incentivizing developers to build affordable units with minimal regulatory involvement by RIHousing during construction.
- Developed and launched a Public Housing Pilot Program, which offers financing for public housing authorities to increase the supply of affordable homes and stabilize the supply of existing affordable housing. This program has provided financing for three developments in Narragansett, Newport, and Pawtucket. Additionally, this program has authorized seven technical assistance and predevelopment grants to bolster the pipeline of potential public housing units that can be developed or repositioned.
- Signed legislation updating the definition of sexual orientation in regard to fair housing practices and eliminated an exemption that allowed discrimination based on gender identity or expression in owner-occupied buildings of three units or less, ensuring Rhode Island continues to be a more equitable and inclusive state for its LGBTQ+ community.
- Increased affordable homeownership opportunities across Rhode Island for first-time homebuyers at or below 100 percent of area median income (AMI) through RIHousing’s Homeownership Investment Fund. As of October 1, 2024, the program has funded $4.8 million for 72 units across 11 municipalities.
- Provided over $1.8 million in assistance to 73 homebuyers across 12 municipalities through RIHousing’s FirstGenHomeRI program, which offers $25,000 in down payment and/or closing cost assistance for first-generation homebuyers living in Central Falls, East Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket and parts of Providence and Newport. The assistance is a grant that does not need to be repaid if the homeowner keeps their home for five years as their primary residence.
- Invested $18 million in Crossroads Rhode Island’s Summer Street Apartments development, which will create 176 new permanent supportive housing units for households experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing homelessness with incomes at or below 30 percent AMI.
- Established the Department of Housing as a new state agency and appointed a Cabinet-level Secretary of Housing, underscoring a strategic shift towards prioritizing housing and ensuring a collaborative, statewide approach to addressing housing and homelessness challenges, increasing housing production and homeownership across Rhode Island, and having a comprehensive approach to supporting community development.
- Initiated the development of a comprehensive statewide housing plan which will provide an in-depth analysis of Rhode Island’s current housing landscape as well as a roadmap of the state’s long-term strategy for housing.
- Conducted individual meetings with all 39 municipalities, with the Department of Housing leading discussions on housing needs, concerns, and barriers.
- Activated the Rhode Island Housing Development Corporation, a subsidiary of RIHousing, to collaborate proactively with municipalities and other stakeholders to identify properties suitable for housing development and to provide the assistance necessary to move projects forward and accelerate the pace of production.
The Road to RI 2030: Housing and Homeownership Goals
- Increase availability of safe, quality, and attainable housing in all 39 cities and towns. Strategically increase housing inventory across the continuum, from permanent supportive housing to market-rate homeownership units.
- Reduce barriers to homeownership and bridge the racial and income-based divide in homeownership.
- Collaborate with municipalities to reduce zoning and planning practices to increase housing production.
- Improve the quality and availability of data on housing to inform Rhode Island’s long-term statewide housing plans.
- Focus on investment tools and resources that reduce the cost and burden of housing development and enhance the feasibility of projects.
- Expand workforce development opportunities for carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and others in the construction workforce.
- Expand opportunities for financial literacy and homebuyer training, homeowner counseling, and mortgage assistance products.
- Identify state-owned land that is usable for housing development.