Housing and Community Renewal, Division of

Agency Web Site: https://hcr.ny.gov/division-housing-and-community-renewal

Mission

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) is responsible for the supervision, maintenance and development of affordable low- and moderate-income housing in New York State. The Division currently performs a number of activities in fulfillment of this mission, including oversight and regulation of the State’s public and publicly assisted rental housing; administration of the State’s rent regulations; and administration of housing development and community preservation programs, including State and Federal grants and loans to housing developers to finance construction or renovation of affordable housing.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $287.4 million for the Division. This is a decrease of $50.6 million from the 2012-13 Budget. The decrease primarily reflects a reduction in excess Federal authority for the weatherization program and a funding source change for the Neighborhood and Rural Preservation Programs and the Rural Rental Assistance Program..

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 692 FTEs for the Division, which reflects the transfer of 66 FTEs to the new Office for Information and Technology Services in the current year. This is an increase of 4 FTEs from the 2012-13 Budget. The increase reflects the transfer of nine housing capital development staff from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), offset by a reduction in the backfilling of positions vacated through attrition.

Major budget actions include:

• Expansion of Affordable Housing Opportunities: The Executive Budget proposes to invest $1 billion of additional resources over five years for a new House NY program to preserve and create an estimated 14,300 affordable housing units statewide. This would create significant economic benefits for the State, including long-term stabilization of distressed neighborhoods and the creation of jobs during construction. This multi-year initiative would include the acquisition and revitalization of forty-five Mitchell Lama affordable housing projects from the Empire State Development Corporation that suffer from significant physical deterioration ($706 million); the creation and preservation of over 5,000 affordable housing units through various housing and community development programs ($231 million); and other initiatives.
• Utilization of MIF Resources to Support the Neighborhood and Rural Preservation Programs (NPP/RPP) and the Rural Rental Assistance Program (RRAP): The Executive Budget proposes to utilize $64 million in excess reserves from the Mortgage Insurance Fund (MIF) to support NPP/RPP and RRAP through the Housing Trust Fund Corporation for a two year period. Additionally, the Budget proposes to consolidate NPP and RPP into a single "Community Preservation Program" and implement programmatic reforms to encourage greater accountability and performance.
• Streamlining Administration of Homeless Housing Development: OTDA currently administers the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP), which provides funding to develop housing for formerly homeless persons. On average, 32 percent of HHAP projects also receive funding through DHCR. Having two State agencies involved in the same capital housing projects creates inefficiencies for both developers and the State in terms of duplicative applications, underwriting, and compliance monitoring. Transferring HHAP to DHCR would create a more streamlined process for developers, further encouraging supportive housing development, and would also create a more efficient process for the State, reducing duplicative efforts and increasing the effectiveness of the State's housing programs. OTDA staff would transfer to DHCR, preserving programmatic expertise, and DHCR would continue to work closely with OTDA on service components.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Human Services (PDF)

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/22/2013

Click for additional detailed appropriation tables