The Montgomery County Land Bank will get millions in state money to help improve housing access in the region.
The new grant is to buy and rehabilitate housing.
The funding is part of the first round of the Welcome Home Ohio program, which is investing $150 million in grants and tax credits to help land banks buy, rehabilitate or build qualifying residential properties for income-eligible Ohioans.
The Land Bank will use over $6 million to buy 40 houses and $700,000 to rehab 24 properties. These properties will be used as single family homes.
The Land Bank said they’re working toward making home ownership a reality for middle and low income families.
“Our goal is to get either first time homebuyers, or folks who have just been renting for a while and due to Covid or some other life changes, may not have been able to buy or keep their house,” said Emmy Fabich, the Montgomery County Land Bank’s program manager. “So a lot of opportunities to improve people's quality of life and to support the economic resilience of Montgomery County.”
The initial grant period is for two years.
“This is primarily focusing on workforce housing," Fabich said. "So trying to break down some of those additional barriers to homeownership for folks that are just working as hard as they can. And the dream of owning a home is out of reach.”
