$5M To Be Set Aside For Housing Opportunities Trust Fund In HoCo

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — New affordable housing initiatives unveiled Thursday by Howard County Executive Calvin Ball include $5 million being funneled toward the establishment of a Housing Opportunities Trust Fund. The initiatives were highlighted when Ball released the Housing Opportunities Master Plan.

During a news conference, Ball explained that Howard County is experiencing a "very high demand for housing" that outpaces the supply of available housing, which disproportionately impacts lower-income households. Currently, just 9 percent of housing in Howard County is affordable to households making less than 60 percent of area median income, or approximately $70,000 per year for a family of four. Also, most for-sale housing in Howard County is not available to households making less than 120 percent of area median income, or approximately $145,000 per year, Ball said.

“It is so critical that we expand opportunities for homeownership and help more families realize their American dream,” Ball said. “We know that living in a diverse community with a full spectrum of housing affordability and opportunity benefits all of us, and a commitment to that full spectrum of housing opportunities will help us build a county that reflects our values for current and future generations."

Since its creation in October 2019, the Housing Opportunities Task Force has conducted 22 meetings with public input, hosted five community meetings, three environmental justice outreach discussions and conducted two surveys that yielded 2,600 responses from the public. The Housing Opportunities Master Plan or H.O.M.P. identifies three overarching strategies Howard County can employ to improve housing opportunities, including:

• Revising land use, planning and zoning regulations to improve the availability, accessibility, affordability, and diversity of housing;
• Supporting housing stability through the improvement of existing policies and programs and the creation of new ones; AND
• Addressing both housing and infrastructure needs in Howard County to ensure that neither form of demand eclipses the other.

The Housing Opportunities Trust Fund in Ball’s proposed budget is a critical tool to carry out the recommendations from the HOMP and will allow for the investment in four key areas:

• Improving homeownership opportunities
• Increase funding to support prospective homebuyers through the Settlement Down payment Loan Program.
• Provide funding to facilitate the award of all new units and resales for Moderate Income Housing Units (MIHU).
• Investments in starting new homebuyer education classes and expanding existing classes will improve residents’ access to education, provide support to existing homeowners, and open the rental unit pipeline.
• Facilitate rental unit conversions to homeownership by providing funding to support outreach and marketing to targeted communities with high rates of renter-occupied homeownership units.
• Providing ongoing and new forms of rental assistance
• With CAREs Act funding, keeping 760 renters in their homes and preventing foreclosure for 17 homeowners.
• Invest in rental subsidies to make more rental units affordable for severely rent-burdened seniors and persons with disabilities.
• Providing rehab assistance to help keep people in their homes
• Provide flexible loans and grants to support modifications, rehabilitation, improvements, accessibility, and energy upgrades.
• And supporting developments that serve populations in need
• Such as developments like Patuxent Commons; of its planned 76 total units, 19 will be for persons with disabilities; 30 for seniors; and 27 for families.

“If you are of moderate-income and looking to buy a home in Howard County but aren’t quite sure how you will realize the dream, this program is just for you,” said MIHU recipient January Falcone. “If you are thinking about it, you should do it.”