Expanded Policy & Affordable Housing Program Development Grants

Available funds will be announced in February 2026.

Applicants must be a city, township, county, or development authority (Minn. Stat. § 473.252, subd. 1) within the 7-county metropolitan area (Minn. Stat. § 473.121, subd. 2) that has enrolled in the Livable Communities program and is in good standing (Minn. Stat. § 473.254, subd. 1-4).

Individuals or private and nonprofit organizations are not eligible applicants but are welcome to partner with an eligible applicant on projects.

To be eligible for a Livable Communities grant, the policy or affordable housing program development project must:

• Be located in a Livable Communities participating city and the city must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements. View participating cities.
  • Projects located in cities that have a current comprehensive plan amendment under review that would make the city ineligible to apply or draw down funds may not apply until the review is complete.
• Meet at least one of the defined Outcomes in the Outcomes score.
• Have a funding gap to complete the project.
• Policy and affordable housing program development projects must result in an enforceable policy or ordinance that is adopted by the grantee’s regulatory body, such as city council or housing and redevelopment authority board.

The Met Council accepts Livable Communities grant requests twice per year:

• April 15 (awards announced in the summer)
• October 15 (awards announced in the winter)

Applications cannot exceed $100,000. Eligible costs include:

• Consultant time directly related to creating the plan
• Staff time directly related to creating the plan

The Met Council may make partial awards.

Reapplication Policy

Applicants are eligible to apply for the same project again if the project meets one or more of the following:

• Project has drawn down at least 50% of the funds previously awarded at the time they reapply
• Project has relinquished 50% or more of the earlier Met Council grant
• Project budget has increased more than 20% since the prior grant award
• Project did not receive an award for the previous application, or received a partial award and has remaining eligible costs
• Project is applying for a different phase of the project
  • A new phase must be financially independent from earlier phases, and
  • Each phase must result in a stand-alone project

After a project has received two awards of the same, other projects that have not yet received two awards will be prioritized.

Application scoring consists of an Outcome Score and a Quality Score.

Outcome Score

Which of the following outcomes will your project help the city meet?

Encourage more development or preservation of affordable housing, both rental and ownership
Incentivize environmentally sustainable development and green infrastructure
Mitigate or prevent future displacement of residents and businesses
Increase housing choice through type, tenure, and/or accessibility

If your project meets at least one outcome, it will receive 16 points for the Outcome Score.

Quality Score

Applications will be assessed on how well they meet the Livable Communities program goals using the following questions and corresponding maximum possible scores.

• How will the proposed policy support housing stabilization, enabling residents to remain in their homes and communities? (5 pts)
• How will the city prioritize racial equity when implementing the proposed policy? (5 pts)
• Do you have a clearly defined work plan/scope? What is it? (2 pts)
• What is the per capita net tax capacity (NTC) of the city? Of cities in the seven-county metropolitan region, if per capita net tax capacity falls within the:
  • Top 25%: 1 point
  • 50%-75% Percentile: 2 points
  • Below 50% Percentile: 3 points

All applications must submit:

1. Documentation of local support for the project. Options include:
   • Letter from the Mayor
   • Letter from the City Administrator
   • Resolution of support (download sample text as a Word Doc)
2. A budget

Term: If awarded, the grant term is three years with a possible two-year extension if needed.

Structure: All grants are reimbursement-based.

Match: No match is required.

Fund Drawdown: All grants are reimbursement-based. To be eligible to drawdown awarded funds, the grantee must:

• Have completed the most recent reporting requirement.
• Have adopted a Fair Housing Policy. ​Best practices, guidelines, and a sample policy are available.  
• Spend at least 85% of the city’s annual required Affordable and Lifecycle Housing Opportunity Amount (ALHOA) on housing activities in the previous reporting period.
• Reported the city's Housing Action Plan (via completing the previous year’s Housing Policy and Production Survey).
• City must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements and have guided sufficient land for affordable housing.

For additional information on grant terms, visit the Current Grantees page.
 

Semi-Annual: Grantees are required to submit semi-annual reports on project progress. Payment Requests: Grantees must provide activity details with each payment request.

Final Report: A final report is required with the last payment request.

As a grantee, you are responsible for alerting the Livable Communities grants administration team of any changes to the project. The grant administrator will work with you to determine if an amendment to your grant agreement is required because of changes.

We understand that not all policies will be adopted by the City Council. We expect staff to build support for the proposed policy and to consider the likelihood of adoption before bringing it to the City Council. 

For more information, see the Current Grantee section.