Buffalo to receive $80 million in housing assistance from New York

Buffalo’s hot real estate market is great news for people who have the financial means to participate in the market. However, many people find themselves on the margins of society and need additional assistance to be able to find safe, affordable housing in Western New York. For many years, Buffalo has ranked among the poorest cities in the country and needs thousands more affordable housing units to meet the needs of the population.

Although there has been significant development of affordable housing in recent years, the units built are not enough to meet demand.

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With the passage and implementation of the New York State Budget, the Empire State is expected to spend more than $200 billion on various services, initiatives and infrastructure projects across the state to support nearly 20 million people who live in New York. The final budget includes more than $80 million to help create and maintain affordable housing in Buffalo and several other cities in upstate New York.

$40 million of those funds will go to New York State Homes and Community Renewal to help finance the construction of new homes in Buffalo, and another $40 million will go to create a fund to help small homeowners make repairs and improvements to their homes in exchange for renting these affordable apartments.

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The plan also makes an additional $10 million available to help prevent evictions by providing emergency funds to cover past due rent for those who qualify.

This is good news for Buffalo, especially since several members of the Buffalo Common Council declined to support these measures.

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Anything we can do to help build Buffalo seems like a good idea. These new programs should go a long way toward continuing its growth.