Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
of the area median family income). Some low- income <br />homeowners cannot afford to make needed repairs to their homes, <br />and deferred maintenance has created a need for homeowner <br />rehabilitation assistance. Based on the existing CDBG <br />homeownership rehabilitation program guidelines, a local <br />rehabilitation program could keep low and moderate- income families <br />in decent, standard homes. This program is especially important to <br />homeowners on fixed incomes, working poor, and rural poor with <br />little borrowing capacity. <br />c. Public Improvements. GOAL: To reduce the number of housing <br />units without indoor plumbing. In rural Orange County, many <br />families still live with outdoor privies rather than indoor plumbing. <br />Lack of income to make needed improvements results in <br />substandard conditions even in homeownership situations. Public <br />facilities funds are needed in combination with rehabilitation funds to <br />bring these rural homes up to minimum housing code. Orange <br />County is one of only a few counties in North Carolina with a <br />minimum housing code, and without funds for low income <br />homeowners, enforcement of the code would result in displacement <br />of these homeowners, as they cannot afford to make needed <br />repairs. <br />GOAL: To reduce the cost of development and land costs in <br />areas outside utilities service areas. The cost of developed lots <br />in southern Orange County is a large contributor to the higher cost <br />of housing development relative to neighboring counties. Providing <br />water and sewer service to project sites, grading and filling on sites <br />with extreme slopes, and building roads and other amenities to local <br />standards, can result in very expensive site development costs. In <br />Culbreth Park, an affordable housing project with participation from <br />the private sector, Orange County, Chapel Hill, and the state CDBG <br />program, the lot cost represents nearly 50% of the total price of the <br />housing unit, while the conventional building industry standard is <br />approximately 20 -25% of the total house price. <br />d. -ommunily Education and Participation. GOAL: To increase <br />awareness and participation of consumers of affordable housing <br />in the planning and program design aspects of local housing <br />programs. Lack of involvement from low- income persons and <br />housing consumers in planning and designing assistance programs <br />results in programs that may not meet the needs in Orange County. <br />Through community education, public information, and increased <br />participation of consumers such as public housing residents in the <br />32 <br />