NYCHA and Partners Provide Home Ownership Opportunities to Residents
Eighteen homes under construction throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens are being marketed to NYCHA residents and area New Yorkers through a robust public information and homebuyer education campaign
The initiative is the latest effort by the Adams Administration to help communities of color throughout New York City build and maintain wealth through homeownership
NYCHA has partnered with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), the non-profit Restored Homes HDFC— an affiliate of Neighborhood Restore HDFC— and Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens to renovate 18 homes throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and make them available to New Yorkers and public housing residents through the third phase of the Small Homes Rehab-NYCHA Program. Five of the 18 properties have been set aside exclusively for NYCHA residents, and the Authority’s Office of Resident Economic Empowerment & Sustainability (REES) is currently in the midst of a robust marketing campaign to make public housing residents aware of the opportunity in the neighborhoods of Cambria Heights, Jamaica, Far Rockaway, Queens Village, Springfield Gardens, and Arverne, Queens; Fort Greene and Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; and Williamsbridge, Bronx. NYCHA has coordinated with HPD and Restored Homes HDFC to hold information sessions over the past month that have attracted more than 200 attendees. Additional methods of outreach include e-mail blasts, flyers and applications posted at nearby developments, robocalls, rent inserts, and paid advertisements in newspapers throughout the City.
The homes, available for first-time homebuyers, were secured through the Small Homes Rehab-NYCHA Program, which rehabilitates properties to provide affordable homeownership to low- and moderate-income families. The cluster of homes in the program consist of several formerly NYCHA-owned one- to three-family homes and homes provided through HPD’s Community Restoration Fund (CRF) Program, a public/nonprofit partnership that focuses on neighborhood stabilization efforts.
“Homeownership is one of the strongest pathways to the middle class and generational wealth, which is key to closing the racial wealth gap. Providing New Yorkers with opportunities to own their own homes is an important priority in Housing Our Neighbors, the Adams Administration’s housing and homelessness blueprint,” said Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. “In partnership with NYCHA, HPD, Restored Homes HDFC, and Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens, we are looking to give more New Yorkers access to homeownership and ensuring that New Yorkers are able to raise their families in New York while building equity.”
“Across the country, the high cost of homeownership is even greater for households of color relative to White households,” said NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “The Authority is committed to being part of the solution around addressing this disparity, by leveraging partnerships with other City agencies and nonprofits to coordinate access to home-buying education and opportunities for public housing and Section 8 residents.”
“As a part of our ongoing partnership with NYCHA, we’re thrilled to create these 18 high-quality affordable homeownership opportunities for New Yorkers, including NYCHA residents,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “From expanding our first-time homebuyer program to creating more affordable homes, putting the dream of homeownership back into reach for working New Yorkers is a priority under this Administration’s Housing Our Neighbors Blueprint.”
“We are proud to be a key player in transforming these vacant properties into affordable homes for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers,” said Salvatore D’Avola, the Executive Director of Neighborhood Restore HDFC. “The rehabilitation of these homes will not only make the dream of homeownership a reality for many former New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents but will further stabilize the surrounding neighborhoods. We are thankful to NYCHA, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and JPMorgan Chase for providing the necessary financing to convert these distressed properties into affordable community assets.”
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) transferred more than 700 Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-repossessed homes and buildings to NYCHA. NYCHA utilized these properties as additional public housing, while working with tenants so they could become eventual homeowners of the properties. In the past 35 years, NYCHA has helped more than 300 NYCHA residents become homeowners of FHA Homes. This current tranche of homes was transferred to Restored Homes in June of 2021. Work to the first set of one-, two-, and three-family homes is expected to be complete by the end of the year, with the others being completed throughout 2023. The Authority has also partnered with HPD’s Housing Ambassador Program to help NYCHA residents successfully complete the application process. In order to qualify, residents must make between 80-120 percent of the Area Median Income and have five percent of the purchase price available for a down payment. NYCHA has partnered with Citibank, HSBC, and M&T Bank to make financing assistance available. The annual Household Income Ranges for applicants vary by property type, location, and number of bedrooms, with an income band range of between $92,239 and $198,600.
The investments in expanding homeownership opportunities to New Yorkers through the combined effort of NYCHA, HPD, Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and various nonprofits is a signature focus of the Adams Administration and follows an announcement in March of this past year to begin construction of “Habitat Net Zero,” a project currently underway to turn 13 homes previously owned by NYCHA into 16 green homes for affordable homeownership.
The virtual information sessions, coordinated with the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Queens and Neighborhood Restore HDFC, were designed to assist first-time homebuyers on the process involved with securing homeownership. The topics covered included the lottery application process on HPD’s Housing Connect, knowing what lenders are looking for from borrowers, securing affordable mortgage rates, HPD’s Home First down-payment grant, and building a homebuying team. Spanish interpretation was available at the info sessions.
NYCHA residents can pick up applications in English and in Spanish at the following developments: Langston Hughes, Cypress Hills, Brownsville, Farragut, and Whitman Houses in Brooklyn as well as Pomonok, Redfern, South Jamaica, Beach 41st, Baisley Park, and Hammel Houses in Queens. In addition, residents who need support in completing the application can get free assistance through the HPD Housing Ambassadors. They offer assistance in English and other languages, including Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, American Sign Language, and 13 other languages. Applicants interested in connecting with the Housing Ambassadors program can find additional information here.
In June, the Adams Administration released the “Housing Our Neighbors” blueprint, a comprehensive plan to cover the full spectrum of housing needs during an ongoing affordable housing crisis that has affected New York and cities throughout the nation.
Working with NYCHA, HPD, and other City agencies, the Mayor’s Office has focused on increasing the city’s housing stock by turning vacant and deteriorated small homes into opportunities for affordable homeownership. Otherwise known as “zombie homes” and concentrated largely in communities of color across Central Brooklyn, Southeast Queens, the North Bronx, and the North Shore of Staten Island, these vacant properties contribute to reduced property values and pose public health as well as safety risks.
Interested NYCHA applicants can find additional details about the Small Homes Rehab-NYCHA Program here.
Photo caption: Previously NYCHA-owned homes that were sold to residents.