2004 S Housing - Consolidated Housing Plan Annual Update/HOME Program Signed Agreement with Chapel Hill

Browse Search

February 27, 2004 Page 2 The Housing Department constantly searches for properties to be used in the THP. The 2004- 2005 HOME Program Funds will be used to purchase a third home by June 2005. (Presently, the Housing Department has purchased one house and is in the process of securing funds for the purchase of a second house.) Depending on its condition and to the degree of any rehabilitation necessary, the plan is for the house to be ready for use (i.e. the house being ready for move in by a participant) in the THP by September 2005. Geographical Area and Population (s Served The Transitional Housing Program serves public housing residents of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area and targets families with incomes less than 60% of the area median. Program Description The goals of the THP are: 1) To purchase ten homes over the course of 5 years in the Chapel Hill area to serve as transitional homes; and 2) To coordinate a network of support services (e. g. homeownership classes, financial -counseling, job skills enhancement, and maintenance education) by partnering with local agencies that will prepare participants for the move to private market housing. The Housing Department has designed a program that provides a supportive environment that fosters a transition to private market housing for public housing residents. Goal 1-the purchase of homes outside conventional public housing neighborhoods-allows the Housing Department to be more creative with its rent policy. In conventional public housing, the Housing Department is restricted by regulations in regard to rent amounts and use. The use of houses outside conventional public housing will allow the Housing Department to use collected rent in several creative ways: 1) Eighty percent (80%) of the rent collected each month will be returned to the HOME Program and requested to be used to purchase new houses for the program in the future; 2) Twenty percent (20%) of the collected monthly rent will be put into a savings account for the THP participant; and 3) the Transitional Housing Program will be exempt from the conventional public housing policy where there is an increase in rent with an increase in income. Several benefits result from these creative uses of rent, both for the program itself and for its participants. First, the program is self-supporting: Eighty percent (80%) of each house's monthly rent is put back into purchasing additional houses for the program, increasing revenue that will defray the cost of purchasing subsequent houses. Second, participants use the money in their savings account toward transition expenses to the private market. Third, exemption from the conventional public housing rent policy provides an opportunity for participants to save money because their rent will not increase. Below are tables demonstrating the (estimated) financial benefits to the program and participants: