Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) | FR 6500 N 19

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6500 N 19

The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designed to expand affordable homeownership through self-help housing models that rely on homeowner sweat equity and volunteer labor. Under this FY2021 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), HUD made $10,000,000 available in SHOP grant funding, with an expected total of about 4 awards. The program is aimed at supporting innovative homeownership opportunities on a national, geographically diverse basis, meaning applicants are expected to demonstrate reach beyond a single local market and show capacity to operate across multiple locations.

Eligible applicants are national and regional nonprofit organizations, as well as consortia of such organizations, that can administer self-help homeownership housing programs. A key eligibility and program design requirement is that applicants must propose to use a significant portion of SHOP funds in at least two states, reinforcing HUDs intent to support broader multi-state impact rather than single-state efforts. Individuals are explicitly ineligible to apply. Grantees are allowed to pass SHOP funds through to local nonprofit affiliate organizations to carry out on-the-ground activities, but those affiliates must be within the grantees defined service area.

SHOP funds are restricted to specific pre-development and site-related costs rather than vertical construction. Allowable uses include land acquisition and infrastructure improvements (for example, site preparation and essential utilities), along with reasonable and necessary planning and administration expenses, capped at no more than 20 percent of the grant amount. Importantly, the actual construction or rehabilitation costs for each housing unit cannot be paid with SHOP funds and must instead be covered by other leveraged public and private resources. This structure makes SHOP a catalytic funding source that helps assemble buildable sites and reduces up-front barriers, while requiring applicants to bring in additional financing to complete the homes.

The program sets a cost-control standard tied to unit output. Across the grant, the average SHOP expenditure for the combined costs of land acquisition and infrastructure improvements cannot exceed $15,000 per SHOP unit. This requirement encourages applicants to manage per-unit site costs carefully, pursue efficiencies, and demonstrate that SHOP dollars will translate into a meaningful number of completed homeownership opportunities.

Homes developed under SHOP must meet clear affordability, quality, and compliance expectations. SHOP units are required to be decent, safe, sanitary, and non-luxury dwellings, and they must comply with applicable state and local building codes, ordinances, and zoning requirements. Once completed, the homes must be sold to eligible homebuyers at prices below the prevailing market price, ensuring that the final product is not simply homeownership, but affordable homeownership relative to local conditions.

A defining feature of SHOP is the self-help requirement. Homebuyers must be low-income and must contribute a significant amount of sweat equity toward the development of their homes, typically through participation in construction-related labor as part of a structured self-help program. Volunteer labor is also required, reinforcing the community-based model and helping stretch project resources. The NOFA also specifies that a homebuyers sweat equity contribution must not be mortgaged or otherwise restricted upon a future sale of the SHOP unit, which is intended to prevent sweat equity from being treated like a lien or ongoing encumbrance that could limit the homeowners future options.

Administratively, this opportunity was released under Funding Opportunity Number FR 6500 N 19, with CFDA 14.247, and it was posted on June 23, 2021. The application deadline was August 23, 2021, at 11:59:59 PM Eastern time. Overall, the SHOP NOFA is structured to fund the early, enabling components of affordable self-help homeownership across multiple states, while requiring strong leveraging for construction costs, maintaining per-unit site cost discipline, and ensuring that low-income households gain access to code-compliant homes sold below market with meaningful personal investment through sweat equity.

• The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the housing, opportunity zone benefits sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.247.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 23, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 23, 2021 The application deadline is 115959 PM Eastern Standard time on. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for FR 6500 N 19

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