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EverythingWestport.com

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

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WAHTF plans to reinstate Housing Rehabilitation Program.

EverythingWestport.com

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

WESTPORT – The Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund is working with the Town Administrator, the Building Department, and the Accounting Department to seek approval from the Department of Housing and Community Development to reinstate the town's former Housing Rehabilitation Program. The reinstatement of the program is among the Trust's strategies to maintain and increase the town's SHI numbers to meet the state mandate that 10 percent of every community's housing inventory should be affordable.

“The program has helped more than 40 property owners make needed repairs to homes in Westport, with 37 of those housing units still included on the town's Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI). As the participating housing units are sold, the town's SHI percentage decreases, so helping to rehabilitate affordable homes in need of repairs is a priority for the Trust.”

If authorized, funds recovered from repayment of loans generated through the program from approximately 2000 to 2012 would be used to finance the new Housing Rehabilitation Program, administered through the Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The town currently has just over $190,000 in recaptured loan funds on hand.

The original program in Westport was designed to provide financial assistance to low and moderate income households in the North Westport Target Area to improve general housing conditions and eliminate building code violations. New or revised eligibility requirements will be subject to DHCD approval.

The zero percent deferred payment loans were funded through a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and offered to both owner-occupied single family and multi-family housing units, as well as investor-owned housing where more than 51 percent of the units were occupied by low and moderate income families.

The federal block grant funds can be used to upgrade electrical, heating and plumbing systems; make structural repairs; replace roofs and siding; install insulation or replacement windows; remove lead paint or asbestos from older homes; and make handicap accessibility improvements. Well and septic system repairs also qualify for the block grant funding.

“The financial assistance (originally up to $30,000 per unit) were given in exchange for an agreement placing an affordability restriction on the property. Under DHCD’s Local Initiative (LIP) guidelines, such units would be counted on the town's Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) for the 15-year life of the loan agreements.”

Property sold or transferred within the 15-year period requires the loans to be repaid on a pro-rated basis; after the 15-year recapture period expires, the loan is forgiven and no repayment is required.

This program will support housing units occupied by low income residents, but does not create affordable units available to new home buyers. All participant housing units will be eligible for inclusion in the town's SHI.

The Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund will keep the community informed as it continues to make progress with this initiative.

Information about the program is available at the Westport Housing Assistance Office, Town Hall, open Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m., or by calling 774.264.5126, ext. 2026, or 617.270.3912.

EverythingWestport.com