The City of Wichita will begin taking applications on February 1st for its Home Repair Program for low-to-moderate-income homeowners.

The program provides up to $5,000 in forgivable assistance for critical home repairs, such as water service and sewer line updates, furnace and water heater replacements and other upgrades.  The program will be expanded for homeowners with larger projects or several identified needs, providing up to $25,000 in city assistance.  The first $5,000 would be forgivable, and the remaining amount would be in the form of a zero-percent interest deferred loan with a 10 percent match from the homeowner.

Homeowners must be the owner of record and they must live in the home, and there are other requirements with regard to insurance coverage and income guidelines.  More information is available at the city’s web site at wichit.gov/420/Home-Repair and applications can be found on that page.

The program will have two main goals:

1) Stabilize homeowners within their primary unit of residence, assisting with the goal of sustaining affordable homeownership, and

2) Assist with critical repairs for existing affordable housing units to maintain and sustain these units as affordable housing stock within the City.

The city also has targeted several priorities for the program this year:

·      Active code violations verified through MABCD

·      Multi-phase projects under way through the prior Home Repair program and in need of completion

·      Projects proposed by owner-occupant homeowners who purchase Wichita Housing Authority single-family housing units

·      Projects for removal and replacement of lead and galvanized requiring replacement (GRR) water service lines and plumbing