HUD News

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a package of regulatory administrative waivers to help communities in Maui and the Island of Hawaii recover from the devastating wildfires. HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Marion McFadden, expressed their commitment to supporting these communities and ensuring that survivors have a safe place to call home. The HUD programs covered by the regulatory and administrative relief include CDBG, HTF, ESG, HOPWA, and CoC, which can be accessed by state and local partners through a simplified notification process.

This waiver package provides flexibility to local grantees, allowing CDBG funds to be used for new housing construction, offering flexibility in HOME tenant-based rental assistance, waiving the HOME loan matching requirements, extending temporary assistance for individuals, and suspending CDBG public services to provide additional support services related to the disaster’s effects on individuals and families. The funding can be used to assist people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, facilitate infrastructure improvements, provide tenant-based rental assistance, reconstruct damaged housing, and demolish buildings.

HUD has also announced an overhaul of their disaster recovery efforts, adding dozens of new staff members to expedite recovery processes and increase coordination and capacity to get funding to communities earlier. These steps will streamline the agency’s disaster recovery process and resilience work, improving their ability to assist communities facing weather-related disasters.