Affordable housing eligibity increases

A recent move by the town of Chapel Hill will make a wider range of people eligible for affordable housing in one Chapel Hill development.

Last week, Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil said he approved an amendment to Vineyard Square’s special use permit — allowing families with incomes above the previous cutoff to purchase units.

Community Home Trust — a local nonprofit organization that sells affordable housing units — is responsible for 30 affordable housing units in Vineyard Square.

The Home Trust has struggled to sell its affordable housing units in recent years because its required income level has shut out middle class buyers who can’t afford to live in Chapel Hill.

The nonprofit amended its charter in 2011 to raise the maximum income required for 25 percent of its homes.

To subsidize housing for low-income families, the town gives the Home Trust a $10,000 grant for every home sold to a low-income buyer.

With the town’s new special use permit amendment, the units can be sold to buyers with incomes above the set level — but the grant must be returned to the town.

Robert Dowling, executive director of the Community Home Trust, said this change will raise the maximum income to qualify for some units from $48,750 to about $66,000 for a family of three.

Dowling said Community Home Trust requested the special use permit amendment when it could not sell a three-bedroom home in Vineyard Square.

“We had a couple families who were interested in this particular house, but they didn’t qualify,” he said.

The unit will now be sold for $130,000. The Home Trust’s units usually run from $90,000 to $150,000.

“This would be on the high end, but of course people on the higher incomes can afford to pay more,” he said.

Dowling said the town quickly approved the amendment because officials know how difficult it is to sell a house in the current market.

“I have approved this amendment because of the town’s interest in providing home ownership opportunities to middle-income households,” Stancil said in an email to the town council.

Town Council member Lee Storrow said he understands the Home Trust’s difficulties.

“I think if we can give them some flexibility that will really benefit them,” he said.

Dowling said that although the Home Trust faced challenges selling this home, it has sold more affordable housing units this year than in previous years.

He said it has sold 16 homes in the last 9 months, compared to 13 homes last year.

Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said he is glad this amendment was made, because it helps more people who have trouble finding homes in Chapel Hill.

“It makes units available to a higher income earner but still to a group that still has a hard time finding homes in Chapel Hill,” he said.

He said there is an extraordinary need for affordable housing in Chapel Hill.

“It’s an ongoing challenge that we’ve been dealing with for a couple generations, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to go away anytime soon.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.