Latest Housing Updates from LeadingAge National
(Sept. 23, 2025) Affordable housing members should note the following updates from LeadingAge National:
Housing Providers Begin Receiving Long-Overdue CY 2025 Service Coordinator Award Notices. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has begun issuing the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Resident Service Coordinator (RSC) grant award notices to renew grants for the current year. HUD-assisted housing providers with RSC grants should check GrantSolutions for award notices; if everything looks good, LeadingAge National recommends accepting the award as soon as possible so that HUD can obligate the funding. HUD is issuing the award notices in batches, which may lead to delays with some of the award notices. Please reach out to Juliana Bilowich, LeadingAge National’s Senior Director of Housing Operations and Policy, with any questions or concerns.
Advocacy Win: HUD Announces LeadingAge National-Requested RAD Rent Adjustment for Affordable Housing Preservation. Following advocacy by LeadingAge National and other groups, HUD has announced a new rent relief option for affordable housing properties going through the agency’s preservation program known as the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). LeadingAge National had worked with housing members and with HUD’s Office of Recapitalization to create a pathway for an alternative rent adjustment for financial relief post RAD conversion. RAD allows properties to convert from a Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC), which is limited in its ability to attract private capital for property upgrades and rehab, to an elderly-designated version of HUD’s Section 8 platform to advance long-term investment and affordability. However, converted properties are locked into annual rent increases determined by HUD’s Operating Cost Adjustment Factor (OCAF), a calculation that may not be granular enough to meet the financial needs of converted properties based on their particular market and circumstances. According to HUD’s Sept. 15th RADBlast! and published overview, a new process will apply to both Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and RAD for 202 PRAC properties experiencing “extraordinary circumstances justifying an exception.” Instead of the traditional OCAF, HUD will review and approve properties for an “Alternative Operating Cost Factor” (AOCF), which will become the new baseline for OCAF-based increases in subsequent years. The relief is available only one time over the course of the 20-year contract for properties as an emergency rent correction. HUD will host office hours on Sept. 25th at 2 p.m. ET to review the new rent relief provision, and LeadingAge National will discuss it during its upcoming housing calls – in particular, its Housing Policy/Advocacy calls. Reach out to Juliana Bilowich for more information.
HUD Withdraws Wide-Ranging Fair Housing Policies. HUD, via its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), announced that it is withdrawing certain fair housing guidance that it determined should no longer be in effect. HUD’s Sept. 17th memo withdraws several guidance documents ranging in dates from 2007 to 2024. The areas of fair housing that will be impacted include Limited English Proficiency (LEP), service animals and assistance animals, tenant screening using criminal records, source of income testing, unit marketing and advertising, and more. The memo states that the list of withdrawals is not necessarily final. LeadingAge National is analyzing the impact of the memo on affordable housing communities and residents and will provide additional information to support continued fair access to housing.
HUD Posts HOTMA-Compliant Housing Materials for Public Comment. HUD has officially posted draft materials for implementation of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA). Updated materials, including forms and model leases, are needed for HUD’s Multifamily Housing providers to comply with the new HOTMA requirements for income certifications and more. HUD had first posted the materials to the drafting table, which gave stakeholders an early chance to review the drafts; on Sept. 18th, HUD published the draft forms to the Federal Register to formally request feedback within a 30-day window, with comments due Oct. 17th. LeadingAge National has been working with members to develop feedback and will submit comments on behalf of its membership. The first LeadingAge National feedback session hosted on Sept. 16th primarily reviewed the model leases, and the second session hosted on Sept. 23rd focused on various forms and resident brochures. Review the draft documents here, and keep up with LeadingAge National’s work on HOTMA here.
LeadingAge National, GRRP Awardees Send Coalition Letter to HUD Urging Action on Stalled Green Funds. In a coalition letter sent on Sept. 18th to HUD, LeadingAge National, several housing association partners, and dozens of awardees awaiting stalled Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) comprehensive funds urged the Department to move forward with new guidance necessary to process the awards.
HUD Updates Preservation Rent Boost for RAD-Converting Properties. On Sept. 22nd, HUD announced increases to a rent boost for Section 202 PRAC properties undergoing a preservation transaction through RAD. HUD’s Notice H-2025-04 increases rents for converting PRACs immediately prior to conversion through RAD, which helps the property remain financially feasible over the course of its new contract with HUD. HUD initially made Preservation Rent Increases (PRIs) available in 2023 following congressional appropriation of the funding, and while LeadingAge National supported the funds, it submitted early feedback to HUD asking for increased rent boosts, which the agency has now allowed. The new Notice allows for an increase in rents of up to $300 per unit per month, instead of $250, for any RAD preservation transaction that will undertake new construction or substantial rehab where hard construction costs exceed 60% of the Housing Construction Costs (HCCs) for the market area, or $200 per unit per month, instead of $100, where the hard construction costs fall between 30% and 60% of the HCCs for the area. In addition, an increase of $50 per unit per month is available to projects that include installation or upgrades of broadband infrastructure, and any small properties (20 units or fewer) can increase their rents up to 120% of the area’s Fair Market Rent. LeadingAge National fully supports these changes and applauds HUD for committing to feasible preservation transactions.
Contact: Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org