Covington officials recently expanded a few efforts aimed at addressing housing issues, including a longtime program that helps low-income homeowners pay for urgent repairs and a separate program that helps pay for a down payment and closing costs when buying a home.
Homeowner Repair Program
Covington’s Homeowner Repair Program is funded through federal CDBG money and has been around for about 10 years.
“These are the types of repairs that people wouldn't be planning for — things like roof leaks, furnaces failing, we have a lot of water and sewer line issues that we deal with here in Covington,” said Jeremy Wallace, the city’s federal grants manager.
One change this year is expanding the list of eligible projects to include accessibility additions like wheelchair ramps and handrails.
The most significant change is increasing the maximum funding from $5,000 to $10,000, especially important as construction costs have gone up significantly over the last couple years. The aid is now in the form of a grant instead of a forgivable loan.
“So folks don't even have to worry about having any liens or any possibility of paying the loan back,” Wallace said.
Homeowners making 60% or less of the area median income are eligible to apply for help; that’s $40,140 or less for one person, and $57,300 or less for a family of four. Those income limits are set by the federal government and have risen this year, meaning more households will qualify. Applications from veterans, elderly, disabled, and extremely low income households will be prioritized.
The program has helped 124 homeowners over the last decade. With $200,000 in the most recent city budget, officials hope to reach at least 20 homeowners a year.
“It's really hard to make everybody aware of it because people don't know that they need an urgent repair until it happens, and then usually it's scrambling to try to figure out how to address it,” Wallace said. “We're really trying to make sure that everybody knows about it.”
You can learn more about eligibility and applying for help on the city’s website here.
Homebuyer Assistance Program
Another housing program expanding this year is the Homebuyer Assistance Program, which offers 0% interest loans to help cover a down payment and closing costs when buying a new home. Ten percent of the loan is forgiven each year the buyer stays in that home.
The loan amount was $5,000 for a long time but was increased to $7,500 in 2020. This year, it’s increasing to $10,000.
“That's really just to kind of offset the rise in home prices which causes you to need more down payment to get in the door,” Wallace said.
The program has helped 386 homebuyers purchase houses in Covington since 2014. It’s part of a partnership with Ludlow, Newport, Bellevue, and Dayton.
“We definitely want folks to know that we're aware that affordable housing is an issue and we're trying to find programs that will hopefully help people with those issues,” Wallace said.
You can learn more about eligibility and applying on the city’s website here.
