HOME Program 2025 Final Rule: In Brief

The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is a federal block grant program that provides funding to states and eligible localities to be used exclusively for affordable housing activities to benefit low-income households. On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published in the Federal Register a final rule related to the HOME program: “HOME Investment Partnerships Program: Program Updates and Streamlining.” The final rule makes several significant changes to the implementation of the HOME program, and represents the first major regulatory update since 2013. Major provisions include changes to maximum per-unit subsidy limits, changes to periods of affordability and rent limits, updated guidance and policy changes for HUD-assisted homebuyer housing, and several provisions intended to streamline participation in the HOME program. The 2025 final rule also included tenancy addenda that would have created new tenant protections for HOME-assisted renters and an increase to the maximum per-unit subsidy limit for projects that meet a green building standard. HUD indefinitely delayed the implementation of these two provisions in a rule published in the Federal Register on April 29, 2026. This report summarizes the major provisions of the 2025 final rule.