Maine's Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program Opens For Proposals

AUGUSTA — MaineHousing is now accepting proposals for its Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program (Rural).

The program, which provides capital funding to help create affordable rental homes in Maine’s smaller and more rural communities, is now in its third consecutive year, and to date, has resulted in the financing of 229 new affordable rental homes in more than a dozen locations across Maine.

 “I come from western Maine, so I know firsthand that our rural communities offer an extraordinary quality of life – a quality of life that everyone in Maine should have the opportunity to enjoy if they want it,” said Governor Janet Mills. “But the lack of affordable housing in rural areas is a real barrier, and it makes our workforce shortage in rural areas worse because people simply can’t find a place to live. This program is helping solve that housing crunch and address the workforce shortage, having created hundreds of new rental homes over the past three years. This next phase of the program will help continue that success. I thank the Legislature for approving my proposals to continue this program – originally created through my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan – which is making a real difference for Maine’s rural communities.”

Unlike traditional tax-credit programs, the Rural program is geared to create smaller developments between 5 and 18 housing units, that can often be hard to finance due to lack of scale and lower income levels in rural areas.

“This program is proving to be an effective and efficient way to add new affordable rental housing in rural Maine and to be an incubator for new housing developers, helping to grow the state’s overall housing development capacity,” said MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan. “We are grateful for the steady support this program has seen from Governor Janet Mills and the Maine Legislature, who have approved three consecutive rounds of funding."

The program, which originated in Governor Mills’ Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan (MJRP) gained national attention in September when it was recognized as an innovative, best practice, by the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), receiving the 2024 Annual Award for Program Excellence for Encouraging New Construction.

In total, Governor Mills, MaineHousing, and the Legislature have invested $65 million to increase affordable rental housing through the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program. In 2022, Governor Mills and MaineHousing launched the program with $10 million from the Governor’s Jobs Plan and $10 million in other sources administered by MaineHousing.

In the most recent biennial budget, signed into law by Governor Mills in July 2023, the Governor and the Legislature secured an additional $35 million for the program. Governor Mills and the Legislature allocated an additional $10 million in the most recent biennial budget, signed into law last April.

Since Governor Mills took office in 2019, her Administration has made record investments in housing – more than $314 million. By comparison, from 2000 to 2018, the State of Maine invested only $65 million in affordable housing development. 

Since its inception the Rural program has helped launch 14 developments with 229 homes that will be made available to working families and older Mainers earning up to 80 percent of local area median income. 

When combined with private, municipal and other non-profit funding, these new homes also represent a more than $64 million investment in rural Maine’s economy. 

This latest round of funding provides another $25 million in capital investment and is expected to result in another 130 affordable rental homes in rural Maine.

This program is a true example of how public/private partnerships can address housing challenges that can be both generic and specific from place to place in rural Maine. The program has also demonstrated success in encouraging new construction by community-minded local developers who may be new to the world of affordable housing development.

The program also helps to increase the availability of homes for families in rural Maine by allowing some older Mainers to right-size their housing situation, freeing up their prior home to be sold to a younger growing household.

More information on the program, including a detailed program guide and information on to submit a proposal can be found on the MaineHousing website at: www.mainehousing.org.