The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the awarding of $1.4 million in funding for research on outcomes of renter households during various phases of disaster recovery. Two awardees, The Urban Institute and Horne, LLP, will receive the funds under the (FY2022) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
“Disasters often result in a loss of naturally occurring affordable rental housing,” said HUD’s Policy Development and Research General Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Richardson. “These two organizations will help us better understand what long-term recovery looks like for low-income renters and the availability of affordable rental housing in communities impacted by disasters, with a goal toward seeing what efforts have been more successful than others.”
For Horne, LLP, the goal is to provide a deeper understanding of recovery outcomes of renter households in areas funded with Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds and what factors contribute toward different outcomes. The Urban Institute intends to utilize a unique set of data from the last decade to assess disaster outcomes on affordable rental housing in communities receiving CDBG-DR funds. Their research will include focus groups and structured interviews with housing developers, landlords, and renters at three case study sites.
| Applicant | Amount |
| Horne, LLP | $700,393 |
| The Urban Institute | $699,607 |
| Total | $1,400,000 |
CDBG-DR funds support long-term recovery after large disasters and are targeted toward the most heavily impacted and distressed areas. Providing funds for disaster research studies is extremely important to future policy recommendations and improvements to future recovery efforts.