Safe, affordable apartments provide more than just four walls. Affordable apartments give parents the financial room and time to invest in their children’s development and education, leading to better test scores for children and more money for college and other educational expenses. This housing is also vital for elderly North Carolinians with low, fixed incomes who are challenged by rising rents at a time when they may also be grappling with increasing health care costs due to the impacts of COVID-19.

For families with very low incomes, affordable apartments may still be out of reach without additional assistance. This has become even more of an issue with the pandemic driving median national rent costs above the affordability benchmark of 30% of household income.

Multiple studies find that low-income families often prioritize rent over health care, making rent assistance a critical tool to improve health outcomes of vulnerable children and lower public health care costs.

The Agency oversees Performance Based Contract Administration for properties with Section 8 Rental Assistance, a key affordability tool to assist renters which helped 23,800 low-income families in 2021.

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Home ownership means better futures for families. Studies show that home ownership supports the development of intergenerational wealth, with children of homeowners more likely to become homeowners themselves. Agency investments of nearly $856 million—fueled in large part by the NC Home Advantage Mortgage™ with up to 5% down payment help—continued to help North Carolinians build wealth by providing affordable mortgage options for buyers with low and moderate incomes.

With current market conditions where a lot of buyers would not have had the funds to make a down payment and pay all of their closing costs, the Agency has made the way for many first-time home buyers to achieve their dream of home ownership in a tough market where otherwise it would not have happened.”

Kimberly Evers, VP of Sales, Southern Region, OVM Financial

Our Agency protects home ownership by preventing the foreclosures, vacancies and disrepair that can damage community strength.

Foreclosures have long been found to negatively impact mental and physical health of homeowners and cause long-term damage to the health and educational outcomes of their children. The Agency assists homeowners facing foreclosure through the State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project (SHFPP), which offers free housing counseling, assistance working with servicers through HUD-approved housing counseling organizations statewide and access to legal services for low-income homeowners. More than 16,970 homes have been saved and 71,910 homeowners have received housing counseling since SHFPP’s inception in 2008. In 2021, 910 homeowners received counseling through the program and 132 homes were saved.

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How Affordable Housing Benefits Health

How Affordable Housing Benefits Education

We also protect homeowners through home rehabilitation and repair investments. Well-maintained affordable housing reduces asthma, pest-borne illnesses, lead poisoning, accidental injury and other health risks. Urgent repairs can keep low-income seniors, veterans and people with disabilities out of costly institutions, saving up to $19 in Medicaid costs for every $1 invested.

Relatively small investments through the Agency’s rehabilitation and repair programs garner big results for individuals. For example, 2021 Housing North Carolina Awards recipient Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry (WARM) provides rehabilitation, repairs and modifications to help homeowners in the Cape Fear region stay in their homes, particularly those whose homes are impacted by natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. COVID-19 challenged WARM with continuing to provide needed services for residents while protecting their health. Field staff were able to complete exterior work on homes while using facial coverings and social distancing to keep homeowners safe, since most clients are elderly, have disabilities or fall into other high-risk categories.

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More help is coming for homeowners impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. North Carolina was awarded $273 million in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan for the NC Homeowner Assistance Fund to prevent mortgage delinquencies, defaults, displacements and foreclosures for homeowners experiencing financial difficulties due to the pandemic. The Agency was chosen to manage the program and after developing and submitting a plan earlier in the year, received Treasury approval in December. Prior to year-end, we launched a call center and informational microsite and finalized the program to begin accepting applications in early 2022.