PDC Housing Grant

Access to and availability of affordable housing is a growing need in the Richmond Region.  For many residents, owning a home is crucial to building wealth. And health outcomes in our community are directly related to the quality of homes and apartments and the stability of our neighborhoods.

In 2018, 48 percent of the homes sold in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield went for $250,000 or less. As home costs keep rising, more houses in more parts of Richmond and neighboring counties are inching out of reach of growing numbers of middle-class families, especially among the region’s Black and brown residents. Increased growth within the region and continued population migration can put a strain on the local housing market and limit access to affordable opportunities for our low income residents, public servants, young professionals, and seniors.

PlanRVA understands that housing is vitally important and supports the Partnership for Housing Affordability in implementing the Regional Housing Framework (link here).  On October 19, 2021, PlanRVA and the Partnership for Housing Affordability launched a $3 million grant program for nonprofit developers working on affordable rental and homeownership initiatives in the Greater Richmond region. Ten projects were awarded grants that represent a $2.75 million investment and will result in 263 new affordable housing units.  This funding opportunity will enable acceleration of actions identified in the regional housing framework and spur additional needed capacity development in our surrounding, smaller and more rural communities.

This new program is supported through Virginia Housing’s new $40 million grant program to Virginia’s Planning District Commissions for the creation of new housing initiatives! You can read more about our housing grant at the links on the right.

The Richmond region’s new Market Value Analysis has uncovered a troubling new data point: Less than a third of the region’s homes sold in 2021 were priced so middle-income residents could afford to buy them. To learn more about this trend and its implications, click here: