John Fetterman
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman pushes to make PA housing program a national pilot
The Whole-Home Repairs program would offer grants and forgivable loans to homeowners and small landlords
Sen. John Fetterman speaks at a rally for Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the York Exposition Center UPMC Arena in October. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
An overwhelmingly popular house renovation program in Pennsylvania is once again being considered for a federal pilot program.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman introduced legislation last week to create a nationwide pilot of Whole-Home Repairs, a popular state program that provides grants and forgivable loans to homeowners and small landlords who want to repair and weatherize their homes.
Fetterman, who introduced a similar version of the bill last year alongside Republican colleague U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, is joined this time by Lummis, Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds and Minnesota Democrat U.S. Sen. Tina Smith.
The reworked version of the bipartisan bill, introduced on Jan. 16 and referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, includes technical changes related to reporting requirements and clarifications regarding the definition of a small landlord.
The latest version of the bill, S.127, states that eligible landlords must have fewer than 10 residential rental properties and not more than 50 total units, with a majority being affordable units and used as primary residences.
The commonwealth’s Whole-Home Repairs program, championed by state Sen. Nikil Saval, received $125 million in funding in 2022 to help property owners repair and weatherize their homes and to support training and pre-apprenticeship programs. The program was so popular at the county and local levels that an estimated 18,000 waitlisted households are still hoping for future funding.
“Pennsylvania’s Whole-Homes program was an incredible success,” Fetterman said following the introduction of the 2024 bill. “This bill will make it so that more working families can afford repairs for their homes and help ensure money that goes out through existing programs goes further. We are in a housing crisis – and this is one critical piece of the solution. It’s a perfect example of how government can work in concrete ways to meaningfully improve people’s lives.”
Saval, while disappointed that Whole-Home Repairs didn’t receive state funding in 2024, told City & State last year his team had been advising Fetterman’s office as the legislation was developed. He added that it’s “extremely heartening” to see the bill receive bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate.
According to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, more than half of the commonwealth’s housing stock was constructed before 1970. Other estimates show that the state has a housing shortage of more than 100,000 units.