Home-repair assistance available to eligible residents

Help is on the way for University Heights residents who need assistance keeping their homes in good shape and up to code.

Thanks to a unanimous vote by UH City Council, low-income residents and seniors are now eligible to receive up to $2,500 to pay for needed repairs to the exteriors of their homes. Residents who are issued a citation ordering that a repair be made may apply for the grant. Homeowners would be required to match the grant at 10 percent.

“Making needed home repairs can be a financial burden, so I hope this grant program will be helpful to our homeowners,” Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan said.  “This is another big step in our strategy to maintain and improve our city’s housing stock.”

The Property Maintenance Grant Program aims to improve aesthetics and eliminate blight by promoting investment in existing homes, and incentivizing upkeep and renovation.

Housing and Community Development Director Patrick Grogan-Myers explained to council that this grant came to be after evaluating resources available to residents. “We identified an opportunity for the city to be able to do more for our low-income residents,” Grogan-Myers said.

To be eligible to receive grant funding:

• the property must be a single- or two-family, owner-occupied property;
• the property must be current on property taxes or on a county payment plan;
• the project must be the result of a violation notice from the Housing and Community Development Department;
• the property owner must meet income guidelines and provide at least a 10-percent match to awarded grant funds.
  
  

The program follows income outlines from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. To be eligible, a one-person household income cannot exceed $39,000 annually. For a two-person household, the maximum income is $45,250. The income limit for a three-person household is $50,900, and for a four-person household, the limit is $56,550.

For more information about the Property Maintenance Grant Program, or to download the program application, visit www.universityheights.com/housing-grant/. University Heights residents may also call the Housing and Community Development Department at 216-923-7800.