The Sweat Equity program began as a response to the City’s budget crisis in the 1970s, its ownership of a massive stock of in-rem housing, a growing demand for low-income housing, and resident-led initiatives...
Sweat Equity was overseen by the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity and worked in partnership with New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s (HCR) Mortgage Agency (SONYMA). SONYMA provides a two...
As a response to “squatting,” where residents that illegally inhabited vacant buildings helped to revive neighborhoods, the Urban Homestead Program (UHP) granted up to $10,000 per unit to tenants willing...