Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis Research Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), has announced the "Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis Research Grant Program" under Notice of Funding Opportunity FR-6900-N-29R. HUD is a federal agency responsible for national policies and programs that address housing needs, improve and develop urban areas, and enforce fair housing laws. The agency's PD&R office manages HUD’s research initiatives and is leading this funding opportunity to generate timely, policy-relevant research addressing the national housing affordability crisis. The primary purpose of this grant program is to support research that advances understanding of the drivers behind housing affordability challenges in the U.S., and to deliver actionable insights that can shape short-term policy decisions at federal, state, and local levels. The funding opportunity focuses on five specific research categories: government-induced demand, immigration, financialization of housing, economic opportunity cost, and the role of Opportunity Zones. HUD places strong emphasis on projects that deliver preliminary outputs—such as summaries, briefs, or toolkits—within the first 12 months of award to enable timely policy impact. Research teams should structure longer-term projects (up to 36 months) with annual deliverables to demonstrate progress. HUD anticipates awarding a total of approximately $10 million in FY2024 and FY2025 funds under cooperative agreements. Between 5 and 40 awards will be issued, with award amounts ranging from $250,000 to $2,000,000 per project. Projects should be aligned with one of the five eligible research categories and reflect a rigorous approach to research design, including quantitative and/or qualitative methods. Unallowable activities include doctoral dissertation research and profit-earning by the recipient or subrecipients. Funds may be used for staff, consultants, data acquisition, travel, project management, and dissemination. Cooperative agreements will include substantial involvement from HUD staff, including review and approval of project designs, deliverables, and changes in personnel. Eligibility is open to a wide range of organizations, including public and private institutions of higher education, for-profit and nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status), small businesses, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions. Individuals are not eligible. Faith-based organizations are eligible on an equal basis. Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. All applicants must be registered in both SAM.gov and Grants.gov and must maintain active registrations throughout the life of any potential award. The application package includes required forms such as SF-424, HUD-424B, HUD-2880, HUD-424CBW, and HUD-426 (if indirect costs are claimed). Required narrative elements include a project abstract (1 page), project narrative (15 pages), budget narrative (3 pages), resumes for key personnel (up to 6 pages total), letters of commitment from consultants (if applicable), and references from previous funders (2 pages). Applications must be submitted by 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time on July 24, 2025. Awards are anticipated to be announced by September 15, 2025, with performance periods beginning on or around October 1, 2025, and ending no later than September 30, 2028. Projects must be completed within 12 to 36 months, based on scope and complexity. Evaluation of proposals will be based on five scoring factors: contribution of the research (20 points), soundness of approach (30 points), team capacity (20 points), project management (20 points), and budget reasonableness (10 points). A minimum score of 70 is required for consideration. Contact for technical and programmatic questions is Michael Stewart at researchpartnerships@hud.gov or 202-402-2258. Requests for paper application waivers should be directed to Carol Gilliam at the same email address or 202-402-4354.

Submit early due to processing delays on SAM.gov and Grants.gov.