Renew Financial CEO Addresses Housing Crisis, Innovative Policy Solutions on 13th & Park

How public-private solutions can lower costs, protect communities, and expand access to equity-backed upgrades

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, June 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With the cost of homeownership rising due to increased insurance premiums, aging infrastructure, and unaffordable repairs, more and more Americans are struggling to hold on to their piece of the American Dream. On a recent episode of the 13th & Park Podcast, Vinay Gupta, CEO of Renew Financial – the pioneer and a leading provider of the residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program – broke down the current housing crisis and highlighted how home hardening and innovative financing offer a solution.

Watch the full episode here.

“Like our public infrastructure, our private infrastructure – the homes people have – is getting old. The average home is 40 years old,” said Gupta on 13th & Park.

He explained that many homes lack modern roofing or energy-efficient features like double-pane windows, making them more vulnerable to damage and expensive to maintain. Meanwhile, the price of gas, electricity, and insurance premiums continues to rise.

According to Bloomberg, homeownership costs in the U.S. have risen 26% since the pandemic began. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that Florida homeowners saw a 37% increase in property insurance premiums from 2021 to 2023.

Gupta pointed to a solution.

“There is value that exists in the system, and that’s in the equity in the home,” said Gupta. “How does one access that to make the improvements, using the technology that already exists, to make their houses more resilient and more resistant to natural disasters?” The residential PACE model was designed to enable homeowners to access low-cost, upfront financing for critical storm hardening, flood resiliency, and energy improvements. The financed amount is added and paid through the homeowner’s property tax bill, making it more accessible to homeowners. Qualifying for R-PACE is primarily based on the property’s available equity and the homeowner’s ability to pay back the financing—not an applicant’s credit score—which helps to make financing eligible improvements within the reach of more homeowners than traditional financing options.

“PACE really allows us to bypass that problem,” said Gupta.

Residential PACE is also a vital resource for state and local governments to meet important sustainability goals. The program can help local governments advance key policy priorities, such as natural disaster preparedness, reduced carbon emissions, and higher energy savings, all without relying on taxpayer-funded programs.

“The technology exists. The challenge is how do you deploy it at scale and how do you bring in private capital so that it’s not a taxpayer-funded bailout?” said Gupta. “The country needs the kind of private capital to improve the housing stock, and residential PACE is one of the few mechanisms we can bring to scale to people who need it the most.”




About Renew Financial
Renew Financial Group LLC (Renew Financial) is a leading residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing provider in Florida and California (PACE Program Administrator License #60DBO-90653). Focusing on community impacts, Renew Financial is committed to driving resiliency and environmentally beneficial projects through the residential PACE program. Renew Financial has funded more than $2 billion in PACE projects that have led to greenhouse gas reductions (GHGs) of over 2 million metric tons, equivalent to removing over 431,000 cars from the road. These projects have also contributed to the creation of nearly 27,000 local jobs and savings of over 2.7 billion gallons of water. Renew Financial is a trademark of Renew Financial Holdings, Inc.

Pamela Rodriguez
Renew Financial
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