Recognition highlights strategies to preserve more than 2,200 affordable rental homes
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) received a national Award for Program Excellence from the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) for its work to preserve affordable rental housing and strengthen housing stability across Oregon.
The award was presented Oct. 5 during NCSHA’s 2026 Annual Conference in Detroit. OHCS was recognized in the Rental Housing category, Encouraging New Construction and Promoting Preservation, for “Strategies to Preserve Oregon’s Affordable Housing Portfolio.”
The recognition highlights the agency’s coordinated approach with partners to protect existing affordable homes through targeted financial investments.
“Day by day, community by community, we are working to build an Oregon that everyone can afford to call home,” said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell. “OHCS is grateful to our partners for helping us deliver on this commitment to the people of Oregon.”
Across Oregon, affordable housing properties face rising operating costs, aging buildings, and financial pressures that can threaten long-term affordability. An OHCS analysis of 748 properties with more than 47,000 homes found operating costs increased 20% between 2021 and 2023, while rental income only grew about 11%. To address these challenges, OHCS launched Property Stabilization Investments in October 2025. The program awarded $39 million to 30 projects, helping preserve more than 2,200 affordable rental homes. The funding came from a legislative investment in housing preservation approved in 2025.
Working with property owners and lenders, the program helps financially distressed properties reduce debt and lower monthly loan payments. These investments improve properties’ ability to cover operating costs and maintain affordable housing. This limited funding also supports addressing needed critical repairs that can return vacant homes to active use.
OHCS paired these investments with approximately $2 million in capacity-building grants to 13 partners across the state to strengthen property and asset management. The agency also reduced administrative burdens by providing more flexibility in waitlist management, implementing Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act requirements to streamline verification processes across programs and allow additional verification methods, and simplifying income recertification requirements where permitted. These changes help housing providers focus resources on residents and property operations, and not red tape.
Together, these strategies help protect public investments in affordable housing and support long-term stability of the organizations that own and operate it.
About Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)
OHCS is Oregon’s housing finance agency. The state agency provides financial and program support to create and preserve opportunities for quality, affordable housing for Oregonians with low and moderate incomes. OHCS administers programs that provide housing stabilization. OHCS delivers these programs primarily through grants, contracts, and loan agreements with local partners and community-based providers. For more information, please visit: oregon.gov/ohcs.