Ontario County is opening a second round of the New York State Vacant Rental Program, with nearly $1 million available to help bring vacant residential units back to market across the county.
The program, administered by the Ontario County Economic Development Corp. through New York State Homes and Community Renewal, provides funding to eligible property owners, landlords, developers and nonprofit organizations to rehabilitate vacant and underused residential properties.
The new round of funding includes additional resources made available by New York state, along with remaining funds from the first round.
What is the Vacant Rental Program about?
The program is intended to address one part of the county's housing needs by making better use of housing that already exists.
Vacant properties
can require significant rehabilitation before they can be occupied, and this program provides property owners with another resource to help make those projects financially feasible.
Once completed, participating units are returned to the rental market and must meet program requirements established by the state, including affordability requirements based on household income.
What happened in Ontario County after the first round?
The first round, which was the county’s first offering of this kind, opened in April 2025 with $2 million available for rehabilitation projects throughout the county.
The program is currently supporting the rehabilitation of 14 rental units across eight buildings in communities throughout the county.
Tyler Bermon, who owns property in Gorham, used the first round of VRP funding to renovate two properties that had been neglected by their previous owners and left uninhabitable by former tenants.
“Both of these properties had fallen into serious disrepair, with floor-to-ceiling damage — one had even lost its certificate of occupancy,” Bermon said.
With the help of this funding, Bermon renovated two decaying properties into beautiful spaces that are fully up to code, almost completely new, and feel like homes, county officials said. Because the demand in the area is so high, both places were rented before work ended, Bermon said.
"The program works, and the results speak for themselves," Bermon said.
How did the Vacant Rental Program come about?
Finding ways to bolster options by rehabilitating existing housing stock is one of many priorities a needs assessment identified for the county.
In 2024, the Board of Supervisors established the Ontario County Housing Ad Hoc Committee to help exploresolutions to the priorities the assessment identified while working toward countywide housing stability. In additionto public outreach and education, the committee takes a deeper dive into housing-related concerns andpossible solutions.
One major focus for both the Ontario County Economic Development Corp. and the county’s Housing Ad Hoc Committee continues to be bringing underused properties or vacant units to market quickly.
This program allows us to do just that," Ryan said in a prepared statement. '“Our hope is to be able to build upon the successes from round one while expanding our reach to more municipalities throughout Ontario County."
For more information on the Vacant Rental Program
Applications for the second round are being accepted on a rolling basis while funding remains available. OCEDC will review proposed projects for eligibility, rehabilitation needs and compliance with program requirements.
Property owners interested in the program are encouraged to contact OCEDC early in the process to discuss their property and determine whether a proposed project may be eligible before applying.
Visit https://www.ontariocountyny.gov/2313/Vacant-Rental for details. Additional information about the New York State Vacant Rental Program, including program requirements and guidelines, is available at https://hcr.ny.gov/vrp.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Ontario County makes $1 million available for rental housing upgrades
