POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino has announced that applications are now being accepted for the latest round of funding from the Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund (HTF). $1 million is available for projects that create or preserve affordable housing. Developer applications are now being accepted through Dutchess County’s online grant portal until Monday, June 15th.
Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino said, “The Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund is about people, not just funding. It helps families, working people and our older neighbors afford to stay in the communities they love. We support projects that add affordable housing and fit the character of our towns and neighborhoods. We welcome developers of all sizes to use this funding and help meet the need.”
This current round of HTF funding focuses on the program’s Housing Creation and Preservation (HCP) component, which supports affordable rental housing through new construction, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, property acquisition and preservation of existing units. Priority will be given to projects with 10 or fewer units. Application instructions and guidance are available online.
Both private for-profit and non-profit developers are eligible to apply. The Department of Planning & Development will host a workshop for applicants on May 7 at 10:30 a.m. at the Dutchess County Farm and Home Center, 2715 Route 44 in Millbrook. Applicants can register online to attend the workshop.
The County’s Housing Trust Fund was established to provide a flexible and nimble funding source to help a variety of affordable housing efforts become a reality by:
Eligible HCP projects may be fully affordable or mixed-income, including single-room occupancy rentals. HCP also funds property acquisition for affordable rental housing by non-profit developers and the preservation or rehabilitation of existing affordable units to ensure long-term affordability. Affordable units created through the HTF are to be available to households with incomes up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Dutchess County, or a portion (no more than 20 percent of the units) with incomes up to 80 percent AMI.
Dutchess County has committed over $14 million to the HTF, including $2 million in the 2026 County Budget. To date, $12.3 million has been awarded to twelve rental housing projects over two funding rounds in 2023 and 2025, to create or preserve more than 500 affordable rental units.
Later this year, a new Housing Trust Fund initiative will be launched aimed at supporting income-eligible, first-time homebuyers with the purchase or development of a two-family home, with one unit occupied by the buyer and the other unit available for rental, helping to expand homeownership opportunities while increasing the supply of affordable rental housing.
Housing affordability continues to be a critical priority for Dutchess County, with the Housing Trust Fund one of several efforts to expanding affordable housing supply. Other efforts include working with local municipalities on strategies to meet the unique needs of their community with the new Affordable Housing Strategies series with practical tools communities can utilize. Information about other tools and programs is available on the Department of Planning & Development’s housing webpage.
