Housing Development

The HOME Consortium has created a housing development fund to assist with the construction of affordable housing in the four counties of the HOME Consortium. According to HUD requirements, each Participating Jurisdiction (PJ) – in this case the Consortium functions as a PJ – must set aside at least 15% of it’s funding for Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). A CHDO must be a nonprofit organization with a 501(c) federal tax exemption.

These organizations must include providing decent, affordable housing to low-income households as one of the purposes included in their charter, articles of incorporation, or by-laws. CHDOs must serve a specific, delineated geographic area; either a neighborhood, several neighborhoods, or the entire community, but not the entire state.

Furthermore, CHDOs must have a formal process for involving potential and actual low-income HOME Program beneficiaries in the design, siting, and development of CHDO programs and projects. The more complex standards involve low-income accountability: no less than one-third of the CHDO's governing board must be residents of low-income neighborhoods (defined as at least 51 percent of households with incomes below 80 percent of median), low-income residents of the CHDO's target area, or elected representatives of low-income neighborhood organizations.

The majority of housing development projects supported by the Consortium have been developed using the “CHDO set-aside.” The Consortium does set aside some program income and other funding for non-CHDO projects as well. Project examples can be found by identifying the appropriate county on the side bar.

CHDO’s and Developers interested in developing a project may click here to access HOME Application.