City of Houston announces new affordable housing development program

CW39 Houston
by: Carrigan Chauvin
Posted: Mar 1, 2023 / 04:16 AM CST
Updated: Mar 1, 2023 / 07:57 AM CST

HOUSTON (CW39) – The City of Houston’s Housing Department and Mayor Turner have a mission to create new single-family homeownership opportunities throughout Houston. The City is set to finance these large scale single family communities to increase attainable homebuyer opportunities for Houstonians at various income levels. By covering the financing gap, new homes are now more attainable and families benefit from increased housing stock.

How did this program come around?

Increasing the supply of affordable and sustainable housing in Houston has been a top priority for Mayor Turner, especially after Hurricane Harvey. He actually has a goal to assist in building 10,000 new homes before the end of his term! So as he has expanded on these affordable housing programs, he starting partnering with non-profits and local builders who were also passionate about replanting Houstonians in a better version of their current neighborhood, rather than replacing them. The idea is to give these residents an opportunity to purchase a home without relocation.

Who can benefit from this program?

So the requirements for this additional financing is pretty straight forward: if you make under 120% of the median income you could qualify. For a single person, that’s less than $74,000. For a family 4, that’s about $106,000. You’ll still need to qualify for a mortgage, but the financing assistance will essentially increase the budget without adding to the monthly payments. The home has to be your primary residence, you must live in the home for 4 years, and you have to complete an 8-hr home buyer education course. So really, not too much work for such huge benefits!

What kind of homes are we talking about? Is it specific to certain parts of Houston?

Great question: These are all new construction! They are beautiful, well-built homes & townhomes. Some are in gated communities. There are 1 and 2 story homes and they are in several different market areas around Houston- acres homes, OST, Third Ward, Near Northside, south park. These communities are all going through a transition, they have a lot of exciting commercial developments happening near by, and are all conveniently located. We’re really excited about the location the city has picked for these projects and I think the residents will be too.

Where can people go to learn more?

The easiest way to find more info is to contact us directly. Julia@camelothouston.com and
ashley@camelothouston.com. Once we connect, we can tell you about each community and schedule a free buyer’s counseling session. We’ve gathered all the city’s best resources to make this a smooth process from start to finish.