State and local housing agencies rely on a wide range of funds to support affordable rental housing. Many federal funding sources have unique administrative requirements that can make managing properties with combined federal funding burdensome. In response, state and local agencies and rental property owners have been forming partnerships and participating in initiatives designed to better align and simplify the administrative requirements for securing federal funds. For state and local agencies interested in forming or enhancing similar partnerships and initiatives, these pages will sketch out a number of approaches to help you better align existing funding programs in ways that...

• Improve outcomes for residents;
• Coordinate investments for maximum impact;
• Reduce administrative and other governmental costs; and
• Promote long-term preservation of the affordable housing stock.

We’ll review some leading examples of effective intergovernmental coordination, where state and local decisionmakers have come together to improve outcomes on the ground. At the national level, we’ll see how the federal interagency Rental Policy Working Group is targeting programmatic inefficiencies and working with federal, state, and local partners to align administrative requirements in several key policy areas -- particularly through pilot implementations.

Contact: harmonization@hud.gov.