The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development said Thursday that federal funding is not an issue for the Hurricane Helene housing repair programs, despite state officials saying they don’t have enough money to serve all applicants.
“It's not a funding problem,” HUD Sec. Scott Turner said during a visit to western North Carolina this week. “The money is there. It just has not been used in its totality.”
HUD gave the state $1.4 billion through a Community Development Block Grant after the storm. The state plans to use $860 million of that for owner-occupied home repairs. The state agency managing the money, Renew NC, is reviewing almost 8,000 applications for home repairs.
So far, Renew NC has approved 2,427 applicants for the home repair program. The average repair cost so far, program-lead Stephanie McGarrah estimated, has been between $300,000-$400,000. The maximum amount a homeowner can receive through the program is $450,000.
Even if all approved home repairs are at the low end of the cost scale, funding for the program will be almost entirely depleted without more HUD funding. And more than 1,400 applicants are still waiting to hear if they are eligible for the program.
So far, 18 homes have been repaired or completely rebuilt.
HUD says more money depends on future conversations
Turner faulted the state for only drawing down 1% of the $1.4 billion dollars HUD awarded it. He was referring to the process by which state governments request the money that has been allocated to them by federal agencies.
Turner said he is always “here to listen” to local and state officials but declined to answer questions about future funding.
“As these funds have drawn down more in the future, then we'll continue to have conversations next,” he said Thursday.
The state has drawn down less than 1% of the money allocated eight months ago, according to a HUD expenditure report from February 2026, the last publicly available data set. However, the report – published by HUD – categorized the state’s spending as “on pace,” as opposed to a "slow spender" designation.
Matt Calabria, Director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for western North Carolina, said the state has moved faster than any other Helene-impacted state to disburse HUD funds.
“North Carolina is moving as quickly as it can to deploy that funding while meeting the numerous federal requirements,” he wrote in a statement to BPR News.
Both Turner and Rep. Chuck Edwards pointed the finger at Senate Democrats for forcing a partial government shutdown that includes the Department of Homeland Security, which funds the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Billions of dollars are being held up by the shutdown, Edwards said.
But the money that HUD uses is separate from the money used to fund DHS and FEMA.
HUD money fuels recovery for low-income residents
The HUD Community Development Block Grants, known as CDBG-DR, are used to rebuild disaster-impacted areas and provide crucial seed money to start the long-term recovery process. Money for home repairs, which is a large portion of the grants, is aimed at helping low-income households.
High construction costs and inflation are making each repair more expensive than usual, said Renew NC’s McGarrah. The program has had to raise its maximum award amount by $75,000 to adjust for rising costs.
“What we're finding across the state is that we do not have enough money,” she told BPR News.
Turner did not meet with anyone from Renew NC during his trip, according to a spokesman for the program.
In addition to the state, HUD also gave the city of Asheville $225 million in CDBG-DR funds that it is using to repair infrastructure as well as homes. That housing repair program also needs more money – as it stands now, the city can only fund repairs for about 12 homes.
“There generally, across the board, is not enough funding to meet all of the needs,” said James Shelton, Asheville’s Community Development Division Manager.
Gov. Josh Stein has requested another $13 billion from Congress, on top of the $7 billion already allocated through the American Relief Act, passed under President Joe Biden. Of that, $8 billion is a request for more funding from HUD.
“The extensive amount of damage and the unique topography of this region are increasing costs and demanding unique, flexible responses that the CDBG-DR program can allow for. Because CDBG-DR-funded projects do not require reimbursement like FEMA PA, the state can move forward simultaneously with multiple projects without cashflow concerns,” reads the request, sent to Congress in September 2025.
