HUD awards $12.3m to address lead remediation in New Hampshire

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded more than $12.3 million in grants to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, the city of Nashua and Sullivan County, all aimed at remediating lead hazards in housing stock in the Granite State.

The funding is part of a total of $165 million awarded to 44 state and local governments in 23 states.

The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority was awarded $4,275,542 in Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program funds and another $700,000 in Healthy Homes funding. The funds will be used to address lead hazards in 226 housing units, HUD said.

Nashua was awarded $5 million in Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program funding and $700,000 in Healthy Homes funding as well. The city will use the money to address lead hazards in 250 housing units, according to the agency.

In addition, Sullivan County was awarded $1,303,524 in Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program funding and $400,000 in Healthy Homes funding to address lead hazards in 60 housing units.

The grants support “ongoing efforts to make housing lead-safe for families with children under the age of 6 and pregnant women by working with landlords who own older rental housing stock,” said Dean Christon, executive director of New Hampshire Housing.

Christon said that a recent investment by the state Hampshire into its Lead Paint Hazard Remediation Fund also provides interest-free loans that will complement the HUD money, the sixth such grant received by New Hampshire Housing.