Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) | FR 6300 N 19

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6300 N 19

The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designed to expand affordable homeownership through self-help housing models. Under the FY2019 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), HUD made $10,000,000 available to support national and regional nonprofit organizations (including consortia) that can implement programs across a geographically diverse footprint. A core intent of the program is to encourage innovative pathways to homeownership by pairing affordable housing production with hands-on participation from the future homeowners themselves, using the well-known "sweat equity" approach where families contribute meaningful labor toward building their own homes.

Eligibility is limited to nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education). Individuals cannot apply. Because the program is structured to promote broad impact rather than isolated single-site projects, applicants are expected to propose using a significant portion of grant funds in at least two states. This multi-state requirement is central to the program's national and regional emphasis and is one of the practical features that distinguishes SHOP from many place-based housing grants.

SHOP funds are narrowly targeted to specific early-stage development costs that often create barriers for affordable housing deals. Grant dollars may be used for land acquisition and infrastructure improvements, along with reasonable and necessary planning and administrative expenses, but planning and administration are capped at 20 percent of the award. Importantly, SHOP does not pay for the vertical construction or rehabilitation of the homes themselves. Those costs must be covered through other leveraged sources, meaning applicants must bring together additional public and private financing to complete each unit. The program also places a per-unit cost control on SHOP-eligible activities: the average SHOP grant expenditure for the combined cost of land acquisition and infrastructure improvements cannot exceed $15,000 per unit across the assisted units in the grant.

The housing produced under SHOP must meet clear affordability and quality expectations. Units must be decent, safe, and sanitary non-luxury dwellings, and they must comply with applicable state and local building codes, ordinances, and zoning rules. Completed homes must be sold at prices below the prevailing market price, ensuring the assistance translates into real affordability rather than simply subsidizing market-rate ownership. Homebuyers must be low-income, aligning the program with households that typically face the greatest difficulty accumulating down payment resources or qualifying for conventional homeownership without structured support.

A defining requirement of SHOP is the sweat equity model. Low-income homebuyers must contribute a significant amount of their own labor toward the development of the SHOP units, and volunteer labor is also required as part of the program design. The NOFA also specifies an important consumer-protection-like feature: the value of the homebuyer’s sweat equity contribution cannot be mortgaged or otherwise restricted upon the future sale of the SHOP unit. In practical terms, this condition is meant to ensure the homeowner is not later prevented from realizing the benefit of their personal labor investment through special liens or constraints tied specifically to the sweat equity portion.

Administration and delivery can be structured through affiliates, which is common in national self-help housing networks. SHOP grantees are permitted to award SHOP funds to local nonprofit affiliate organizations to carry out the grantee’s program, but those affiliates must be located within the grantee’s service area. This setup allows larger regional or national nonprofits to coordinate compliance, financing, and reporting while local partners handle on-the-ground activities like site preparation coordination, homeowner recruitment and training, volunteer management, and construction scheduling.

From a competition and timing standpoint, this FY2019 opportunity anticipated making about 4 awards, with an award ceiling of $10,000,000. The funding opportunity number is FR 6300 N 19, the CFDA number is 14.247, and the activity category is housing. Applications were required to be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the listed due date (the original closing date shown is July 10, 2019). Overall, the grant is best understood as a catalyst for self-help homeownership pipelines: it helps nonprofits control land and prepare sites, while requiring them to leverage separate construction financing and to deliver below-market homes to low-income buyers who directly participate in building their homes alongside volunteers.

• The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the housing sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.247.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 09, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 10, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for FR 6300 N 19

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