Governor Hochul Announces More Than $19 Million to Make the Dream...

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the second round of awards for her innovative MOVE-IN NY program. More than $19 million was awarded to create 56 new homes in the cities of Amsterdam, Auburn, Lackawanna and Schenectady and the Town of East Hampton. The AHA Development Corporation was awarded $3,025,000 for 10 homes; the Capital Region Land Bank was awarded $6,655,000 for 22 homes; the Lackawanna Housing Development Corporation was awarded $2,420,000 for 8 homes; and the Town of East Hampton was awarded $7,040,000 for 16 homes.

"Homeownership in New York should be within reach for families at every stage of life, whether you're buying your first home, downsizing in retirement or putting down roots for the first time," Governor Hochul said. "New Yorkers deserve safe, stable and affordable homes and my MOVE-IN NY program is helping us build them faster and at a lower cost. This is how we address the housing crisis, by building more homes that New Yorkers can actually afford."

The MOVE-IN NY program harnesses the benefits of prefabricated homes to quickly build more affordable starter homes in communities throughout New York. The program is supported by $50 million that the Governor secured in the FY 2025-26 Enacted State Budget. The factory-built homes used in the MOVE-IN NY program can be built quickly and economically, at a large scale. Referred to as "CrossMods," these homes resemble traditionally constructed single-family homes and can be integrated in all types of housing markets including urban, suburban and rural communities.

The funds, which were awarded through a competitive process, will be used to purchase and site over 50 prefabricated CrossMod homes through the MOVE-IN NY program, which is administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). The homes are expected to be sited this summer and will be sold for less than the cost of construction to low and moderate income homebuyers.

CrossMods are built to the Federal HUD Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Code and meet design guidelines approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which enables homebuyers to access conventional mortgages.

Throughout New York, smaller, more affordable homes - often referred to as "starter homes" - have become increasingly scarce, preventing young individuals and families from becoming first-time homeowners and older New Yorkers from downsizing. In recent years, construction costs, materials and interest rates have skyrocketed, making the typical cost to construct a small, single-family home in New York upwards of $450,000 or more.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, "Factory-built CrossMod homes are a high-quality alternative to traditionally-built houses, offering faster construction at a more affordable price. This $19 million investment in the second round of MOVE-IN awards and the 56 new homes it will create makes the vision of homeownership a reality for families across New York. With nearly 130 new homeownership opportunities created so far through this program, MOVE-IN is an effective tool that tackles the affordability crisis and we are thrilled to see it expand so quickly around the state. Thank you to Governor Hochul for her commitment to innovative initiatives that make New York more affordable for everyone."

As part of her 2025 State of the State, Governor Hochul proposed using innovative approaches to homebuilding to catalyze the construction of starter homes and help create more opportunities for affordable homeownership. In 2025 New York State Homes and Community Renewal successfully piloted the MOVE-IN NY program with the creation of three new starter homes in the cities of Schenectady and Syracuse, as well as the Town of Newcomb. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,500-square-foot homes, which include a porch and a garage, were manufactured in a factory and then sited on vacant land owned by local land banks. The homes were constructed and sited within six months - which is up to three times faster - and for half the cost of comparably sized homes built using traditional construction methods.

The program was subsequently expanded statewide through an open competitive Request for Applications issued in the Fall of 2025 that encouraged interested local governments, land banks, non-profit housing developers and home manufacturers to apply to participate. Today's announcement builds on the first round of awards and brings the total number of new homes funded through the MOVE-IN NY program to 128.

In December 2025 Governor Hochul signed the Land-Home Property Act into law, creating a formal statutory procedure for classifying a manufactured home as real property. The new law takes effect at the end of this year and will allow manufactured homeowners to convert their title from personal property to real property, which helps eliminate barriers to financing and improves access to traditional mortgages.

Governor Hochul's FY 27 Executive Budget provides an additional $100 million to support further expansion of the MOVE-IN NY program as well as the continued exploration of innovative emerging factory-built and modular construction technologies. This investment will help New York build new affordable homes more quickly and economically throughout the state and remain a leader in using innovative approaches to homebuilding.

City of Lackawanna Mayor Annette Iafallo said, "We are very pleased that the City of Lackawanna has been accepted into the MOVE-IN NY program," said Mayor Annette Iafallo. This initiative, pursued in partnership with the Lackawanna Housing Development Corporation and Erie County Department of Environment & Planning, will allow Lackawanna to continue its strong focus on expanding and improving our housing supply - particularly in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods where affordable housing opportunities are needed most. As a New York State Certified Pro-Housing Community, Lackawanna supports Governor Hochul's mission to advance policies, programs and projects that promote quality, affordable, and accessible housing opportunities across the state. And through our participation in MOVE-IN NY, Lackawanna will create new pathways for housing investment, neighborhood revitalization, and long-term community growth."

City of Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said, "We thank Governor Kathy Hochul for this funding that will help quickly meet the need for new single-family homes in Schenectady. We congratulate the Land Bank and Metroplex for competing for and winning this very large grant award."

Capital Region Land Bank Chair and Deputy Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature Richard Ruzzo said, "Schenectady was one of the first communities in New York State to get a new modular house constructed and sold under Governor Hochul's MOVE-IN NY program. Our Land Bank team worked hard on this application so that we could win these critical grant dollars that we will be deployed to build additional new affordable homes in our community. This $6.65 million grant is a huge validation for the work of the Land Bank in making the dream of an affordable, quality home a reality for more families."

Capital Region Land Bank Executive Director Kristen Pirro Evans said, The Land Bank is grateful to be the winner of a $6.65 million grant that will allow us to take vacant lots that we have prepped for development and build new homes for Schenectady families. We thank Governor Hochul and her high performance housing team for this innovative program that gets new homes built faster and makes them more affordable for our residents.

Town of East Hampton Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said, "When I asked Governor Hochul for help making these homes possible, I was thinking about the families who want to stay in East Hampton and build their lives here. She understood what that means for our community, and I am deeply grateful for her care, her partnership, and New York State's investment. Because of this award, sixteen families will find homes here, with a place to build their futures."

Cayuga County Chairman Jonathan Anna said, "Cayuga County is grateful to Governor Hochul for this significant investment in affordable homeownership opportunities through the MOVE-IN NY program. Across our region and throughout New York State, families are facing rising housing costs and a limited supply of quality starter homes. This funding will help address a critical need by creating affordable, modern homes that will allow more working families, young professionals, and first-time homebuyers to put down roots in our community. We appreciate the Governor's continued commitment to innovative housing solutions that strengthen neighborhoods, support local economies, and make the dream of homeownership attainable for more New Yorkers."

Auburn Housing Authority Executive Director Stephanie Hutchinson said, "We are excited to provide affordable homeownership opportunities for Auburn's families while revitalizing our neighborhoods and adding to the City's tax base. This is a win for everyone involved, and we are grateful to the State for addressing this need."

Governor Hochul's Housing Agenda

Governor Hochul is dedicated to addressing New York's housing crisis and making the State more affordable and livable for all New Yorkers. Since FY23, the Governor has worked to increase housing supply to make housing more affordable by launching a $25 billion five-year comprehensive Housing Plan, enacted the most significant housing deal in decades and implemented new protections for renters and homeowners. Under Governor Hochul's leadership, HCR has created new programs that jumpstart development of affordable and mixed-income homes - for both renters and homebuyers. These include the Pro-Housing Community Program, which allows certified localities exclusive access to up to $750 million in discretionary State funding. More than 410 communities throughout the state have been certified Pro-Housing.

As part of Governor Hochul's 2026 State of the State, the Governor proposed her "Let Them Build" agenda, a series of landmark reforms to speed up housing and infrastructure development and lower costs. This initiative will spur a series of common-sense reforms to New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and executive actions to expedite critical categories of projects that have been consistently found to not have significant environmental impacts, but for too long have been caught up in red tape and subject to lengthy delays.

The FY27 Executive Budget completes the Governor's current five-year Housing Plan to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide, including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes. More than 80,000 affordable homes have been created or preserved to date. The Executive Budget also invests $250 million in capital funding to accelerate the construction of thousands of new affordable homes.