Ohio House budget proposal seeks to change decades-long statewide affordable housing program
Stock photo from Getty Images.
A major source of Ohio's funding for local homelessness and affordable housing programs was altered in the Ohio House's proposal for the state's next two-year operating budget due before July 1.
The Ohio Housing Trust Fund was created in 1991 and is administered by the Ohio Department of Development. It is funded by a portion of the fees collected by county recorders, with half of the fees staying with the county and the other half going back to the Ohio Housing Trust Fund — which requires at least 50% of the funds be spent in non-urban areas.
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'Through the Trust Fund, it funds homeless services, home modifications and repairs for homeowners, usually individuals who are aging,' said Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio's Executive Director Amy Riegel. 'It also provides gap financing for housing development and affordable housing development across the state.'
The House budget proposal would remove the requirement for county recorders to send the Department of Development money to reallocate the funds, making it less effective across the state.
'Each county, whatever their receipts are, that's the funding they have, and that's all the funding that they have,' Riegel said. 'It is a significant change.'
She was surprised to see this in the House's budget proposal.
'When the state is able to aggregate those dollars, they are then able to put it back out into communities where it is most needed at that time, and there are not enough resources,' Riegel said. 'The Trust Fund could be 10 times what it is today, and we still wouldn't be able to solve every housing issue across the state, but it is very effective, very useful dollars. … This is a program that actually works really well, that's very strong, and we only have the hope to continue to strengthen it.'
Ohio is lacking more than 264,000 affordable rental units, according to the 2025 Gap Report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and coalition on housing and homelessness. Ohioans make at least $20.81 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a 'modest' two-bedroom apartment, according to the 2024 Out of Reach Ohio report.
Ohio House lawmakers also nixed Gov. Mike DeWine's Ohio Housing Investment Opportunity Program in the budget that would have invested $100 million in fiscal year 2026 to help increase single and multi-family housing in rural areas.
'That would have helped individuals build all types of homes,' Riegel said. 'I know that was something that the home builders have really advocated for, so disappointing to see that not included.'
The House's proposed version of the budget would give the Ohio Housing Finance Agency $18.9 million for fiscal year 2026 and $19.6 for fiscal year 2027, the same as DeWine's proposal.
The House is set to vote on its version on the budget soon. The budget will then go to the Senate before going back to DeWine's desk where it must be signed into law by June 30.
Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.
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