Home Repair Programs for Seniors: Who to Call First

Home repair programs for seniors that use HUD's Community Development Block Grants start at the city or county, because HUD gives that money to states, cities and counties, not individuals.1 HUD tells families to contact their local municipal or county officials to learn how the program works where they live.1 If your parent's porch steps are failing or the bathroom has stopped being safe, that local office is the call that can turn into actual work on the house.

In This Guide

• Which Office Runs Senior Home Repair Programs?
• City and County Home Repair Programs Paid for by CDBG
• HOME Program Repairs for Low-Income Homeowners
• Is There a HUD Home Repair Grant for Seniors?
• Other Places to Ask for Home Repair Help
• How to Find Your Parent's Local Home Repair Program
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Which Office Runs Senior Home Repair Programs?

When you search for repair help for a parent, the results can make it sound as if there's one national program with one application. There isn't, and that's not your fault for hoping. Federal money for senior home repairs reaches families through several different front doors, and knowing which one fits your parent saves weeks of calls.

This guide is about the local door: the city or county housing programs that use federal housing money. For the full list of ways families pay for changes to a parent's home, from Medicare to tax deductions, start with our guide to paying for home modifications.

A family can knock on more than one of these doors at once. The rest of this guide takes them in order, starting with the city or county.

City and County Home Repair Programs Paid for by CDBG

The Community Development Block Grant program is HUD money that states, cities and counties can put toward housing repairs, and its rules explain why your parent's experience depends so much on where the house is. HUD's CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to states, cities and counties.1 The local government administers the CDBG program and decides which local projects receive funding, and participation requirements can differ from one grantee to another.1

What CDBG money can pay for in a parent's home

Under 24 CFR 570.202, CDBG funds may be used to rehabilitate privately owned homes, and the money can flow as grants, loans, loan guarantees, interest supplements or other means.1 So a city's repair program might give your parent a grant, or it might offer a loan; that's a local choice, and it's one of the first things to ask.

For a parent whose body is changing, one line in that regulation matters most. CDBG's eligible rehabilitation activities under 24 CFR 570.202 include improvements designed to remove material and architectural barriers that restrict the mobility and accessibility of elderly or severely disabled persons.1 If what your parent needs is about getting in, out of or around the house, bring that language up when you call, then let the program tell you whether it funds that kind of work.

Who qualifies for CDBG home repair help

What most families want to know here is simple: will your parent's income keep them out? CDBG repair programs are built for lower-income households, because HUD requires that at least 70% of a grantee's CDBG money, measured over a one-, two- or three-year period, go to activities that benefit low- and moderate-income people.1 So expect an income question early in the first call.

For a single homeowner's repair, the test is the household living there afterward. A homeowner's CDBG-funded rehabilitation counts toward the low- and moderate-income housing objective when the home, once the work is done, will be occupied by a household with income at or below the Section 8 low-income limit that HUD sets.1 Ask the local office what that limit is for your parent's household, rather than relying on a figure you found online. If your parent seems close to the line, ask anyway; the office applies the test, so don't rule your parent out before that call.

HOME Program Repairs for Low-Income Homeowners

The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is the second HUD grant that can sit behind a local repair program. HUD awards HOME money each year as formula grants to participating jurisdictions, which use it, often with local nonprofit groups, for activities that include rehabilitating housing, through grants, direct loans, loan guarantees or other forms of credit enhancement.2

HOME has two firm tests for a home a family already owns. Under 24 CFR 92.254, a HOME-funded rehabilitation of an owner-occupied home is allowed only if both of these are true:2

• The value test: the home's estimated value after the work can't exceed 95% of the median purchase price for the area.2
• The owner test: the home is the principal residence of an owner whose family is low-income when the HOME money is committed, and the income of everyone living in the home counts.2

Low-income, for HOME, means annual income at or below 80% of the area's median income as HUD determines it, adjusted for household size, and HUD can set the ceiling higher or lower than 80% in a given area.2 If an adult child has moved in to help, that income counts too, which can change the answer.

The HOME rules speak of rehabilitating nonluxury housing with suitable amenities.2 Whether a local HOME program will pay for a ramp or a bathroom change is a question for that program, so ask it directly.

Is There a HUD Home Repair Grant for Seniors?

Not one a family can apply for. If you've seen pages promising a "HUD grant" for a parent's home, they're usually describing HUD's Older Adult Home Modification Program, and that program works differently. HUD awards Older Adult Home Modification Program funds competitively to state and local governments, nonprofits and public housing authorities, and HUD's 2026 funding notice for the program (LHC-2600-DC-0069, with applications due August 31, 2026) states that you cannot apply as an individual.3

Your parent can still benefit if a local organization holds an award. Under HUD's 2026 Older Adult Home Modification Program notice, local grantees deliver the work to homeowners and renters who are 62 or older, live in the home where the changes will be installed as their primary residence, have family income at or below 80% of the local area median, and aren't receiving project-based rental assistance.3 The Older Adult Home Modification Program focuses on low-cost, high-impact changes, and HUD's examples include grab bars, railings, a temporary ramp, a tub or shower transfer bench and a raised toilet seat.3 The home assessment can be done by an occupational therapist, a licensed occupational therapy assistant, a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist or another trained professional; under the 2026 notice, an occupational therapist isn't required.3

You may also see a dollar figure attached to this program. Under HUD's 2026 Older Adult Home Modification Program notice, modification costs, including labor and materials, are averaged at $5,400 per home, not counting the assessing professional's salary, and a grantee needs HUD's approval before contracting for work on a home expected to cost more than $15,000; the $5,400 is a program average, not money paid to your parent.3 When you call your local housing office or Area Agency on Aging, ask whether any organization near your parent runs HUD-funded home modification work.

Other Places to Ask for Home Repair Help

The city or county is one door. Depending on where your parent lives and what the house needs, these others may fit better, or fill a gap the local program can't.

Your parent's Area Agency on Aging

Your parent's local Area Agency on Aging is worth a call alongside the housing office. You can find it through the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov.6 Title III-B of the Older Americans Act can fund help with housing, including residential repair and renovation and adapting homes for older people with physical disabilities, and what each Area Agency on Aging offers can differ from one area to another.4

Money shouldn't stop you from asking. Federal law says no Older Americans Act service may be denied to an older person because of income or failure to pay, and contributions are voluntary.7 A state may choose sliding-scale cost sharing for some Older Americans Act services, but never for an older person whose income is at or below the federal poverty line.7

USDA Section 504 if the house is rural

If your parent owns a home outside a city, check the USDA Section 504 Home Repair program. A Section 504 applicant must own and live in a home in an eligible rural area and be unable to get affordable credit elsewhere, and under the program regulation the household's adjusted income can't exceed the very-low-income limit USDA publishes for the county, for loans and grants alike; for a Section 504 grant, the applicant must also be 62 or older when applying.5 Our USDA Section 504 guide covers the limits, what the money can pay for and how to apply.

Weatherization programs

Weatherization often shows up on lists of free home repairs, so it helps to know what it's for. The Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program is, in DOE's words, at its core an energy efficiency program, and its local providers install only energy-related health and safety measures.8 If drafts and energy use are the problem, it may fit; if the problem is the front steps, look to the doors above.

If your parent rents or is a veteran

A parent who rents has a different starting point. Under the Fair Housing Act regulation, a landlord can't refuse a reasonable modification that a tenant with a disability needs, though the tenant generally pays for it.9 Our guide to renters' accessibility rights explains how that works. If something in a HUD-assisted apartment is broken and the landlord won't fix it, our guide to repairs in subsidized housing covers who to call. If your parent is a veteran, also read about VA adaptive housing grants.

How to Find Your Parent's Local Home Repair Program

You don't have to know the program's name before you call. Here's a short path that works even from another state.

When you reach the right person, these questions get you a real answer quickly:

• Does the city or county use CDBG or HOME money for repairs on homes that owners live in?
• Is the help a grant, a loan, or a mix, and does anything have to be paid back?
• What is the income limit for my parent's household size?
• Will the program fix accessibility problems, such as steps or a bathroom, or only code and safety repairs?
• Is there a waiting list, and is the program taking applications now?

Write down the name of the person you spoke with and the date. If your parent is on a waiting list, those notes make the follow-up call easier.

Learn More

Find personalized help tracking down home repair programs for a parent's house at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.