HUD Approves Affordable Housing Grants for Older Florida Mortgage Applicants
Affordable housing in Florida.
It’s as pressing an issue as there is in the state.
Help, hopefully, is on the way, however. Thousands of additional senior citizens and people with disabilities will soon be able to find affordable housing, thanks to more than $633 million in housing assistance announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson joined Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (CT-5) to make the announcement in New Britain, Connecticut. It will affect Florida mortgage applicants greatly due to the proliferation of Baby Boomers and retirees in the area.
“These grants will help the nation’s very low income elderly and people with disabilities find decent housing that they can afford,” said Jackson. “Neither group should ever have to worry about being able to find a safe place to live.”
Connecticut grants include more than $9.6 million in Section 202 grants for very low income elderly; and $1.5 million in Section 811 grants for very low income people with disabilities.
HUD’s Section 202 grants program helps expand the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for the elderly. It provides very low income elderly with options that allow them to live independently, but in an environment that provides support activities such as cleaning, cooking, and transportation.
In addition to funding the construction and rehabilitation of projects to create apartments, HUD Section 202 grants will subsidize rents for three years so that residents will pay only 30% of their adjusted incomes as rent.
To be eligible for the assistance a household must be classified as “very low income,” which means an income less than 50% of the area median.
Nationally, based on 50% of the national median family income with an applicable adjustment for household size, a one person household would need to have an income equal to or less than $20,850 a year to qualify for this sort of Florida mortgage loan assistance.
This housing, most of which will be newly constructed, typically consists of small apartment buildings, group homes for three to four people per home, or condominium units. Residents will pay 30% of their adjusted income for rent, while the federal government will pay the rest.
