El Paso's Department of Community and Human Development is considering moving $2,555,041 in federal funds away from first-time homebuyer down payment and closing cost assistance and toward preserving and developing affordable rental housing. The money would come from five annual action plans spanning 2019 to 2023, and city officials say the shift would not reduce El Paso's overall HOME program funding.
The proposal was reported by KFOX, which noted that El Paso officials are seeking resident feedback on shifting the roughly $2.5 million toward expanding and preserving affordable housing. City staff say the change would give El Paso greater flexibility to respond to current housing needs, according to the same report.
The funds in question are broken down across several years: $650,000 from the 2019-2020 annual action plan, $445,041 from 2020-2021, $480,000 from 2021-2022, another $480,000 from 2022-2023, and $500,000 from the 2023-2024 plan, per the city's account. Federal housing funds must be used within HUD-required timelines, the report notes, a constraint tied to federal HOME Investment Partnerships program rules. Under those regulations, spelled out in 24 CFR Part 92, jurisdictions must formally commit grant dollars within specified windows and finish funded projects within four years of commitment or forfeit and repay whatever remains unspent.
Why Down Payment Help Alone Isn't Closing the Gap
The proposed pivot comes as affordability remains a concern for prospective buyers. The available source material does not establish specific El Paso figures for the salary needed to afford a median-priced home, median household income, the share of listings within reach of median earners, median single-family home price, year-over-year change or average days on market.
That income gap helps explain why the city may be steering money toward rental housing instead. The City of El Paso's 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan includes housing-needs sections addressing local housing conditions. It does not establish the household counts or renter breakdown cited here.
A Widening Rental Construction Shortfall
Municipal assessment data citing HUD housing market studies found El Paso faced projected demand for 2,300 new rental units between 2022 and 2025, but only 740 rental units were under construction at the start of that period, according to the city's own Community Needs Assessment Report. The gap is described alongside local efforts to expand rental housing. S&P Global Ratings reported in July 2026 that EP HOME, the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso, adopted a goal to add 1,200 affordable housing units annually through acquisitions and new construction, building on its existing 13,000-unit portfolio.
Hoodline has previously covered EP HOME's rental construction push, including the 41-unit Eastside Crossings project rising on a vacant Zaragoza Road lot. Separately, Hoodline reported that seniors at Chelsea Towers said they were stuck without hot water, underscoring ongoing HUD compliance and housing quality questions at subsidized rental facilities in the city.
Citywide Flexibility, Federal Strings Attached
The proposed reprogramming would involve HOME funds administered by the Department of Community and Human Development. But converting the money into multi-family rental development isn't a simple switch.
Texas's reliance on this kind of federal flexibility runs deep. Reporting from Capital & Main in August 2023 noted that Texas was promised $148.2 million through the federal HOME program, a critical funding mechanism given the state's limited political will for state housing funding.
How Residents Can Weigh In
The proposal will be discussed during a city council meeting at City Hall on Tuesday, September 15. Residents can submit written responses by email to [email protected], and can call 915-212-0138 for more information about the proposal or meeting. Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on October 1. Officials say the public comment period is intended to gather resident feedback.
El Paso's housing affordability remains part of the local housing discussion. The available source material does not establish a SmartAsset ranking among major U.S. metros or a median share of household income devoted to combined housing payments. But that citywide average sits alongside the acute rental shortage described in the city's own housing data, a tension that will likely shape how residents respond during the coming weeks of public comment.
