Repco details ADU, repair and rental-revival grants, urges municipalities to sign support letters

Faith Moore, senior vice president of housing programs and solutions at Repco Inc., told the Orange County Housing Task Force that Repco has state funding and programs ready to expand affordable housing across the Hudson Valley and in Orange County in particular.

Moore said Repco is administering roughly $17 million in grant funding across four counties that can be used for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and related projects, and that about $4 million of that has been set aside to serve Orange County. She described a sequence of programs aimed at different parts of the housing gap: ADU grants for homeowners, a vacant-rental improvement program for small landlords, and a targeted home‑improvement grant program in the city of Newburgh.

Why it matters: Moore framed the funding as a low‑impact, cost‑effective way to increase housing supply quickly — by enabling homeowners to add units on existing lots, bringing vacant rental units back into service, and paying for critical home repairs that help residents remain housed.

Market snapshot and affordability gap Moore said home prices in the county have climbed from just under $260,000 in February 2019 to about $430,000 “today,” a roughly 65% increase she cited to show price pressure. She added mortgage payments have more than doubled in the same period, from about $1,170 monthly to roughly $2,641, and that inventory of homes for sale is down about…