This page uses extracted PDF text. Text can misread numbers, dates or table columns. Check the PDF before quoting or interpreting it. Redacted areas remain redacted.
Various factors can create barriers to affordable housing. The City of Newport News will continue to address the barriers of affordable housing. The City
has taken several steps over the past several years to eradicate some of these barriers. The City developed a citizen driven comprehensive plan entitled,
“Framework for the Future”. The strategies and objectives identified throughout this plan are designed to increase the availability of affordable housing
Citywide.
Also, the City and NNRHA will continue its efforts to affirmatively further fair housing by continued participation in the Hampton Roads Community Housing
Resource Board (HRCHRB). The seven entitlement cities in Hampton Roads have worked collectively and individually, over the past several years, to
eliminate potential impediments to fair housing choice and this will continue in the upcoming fiscal year.
The City will continue its efforts to develop specific actions to eliminate barriers to affordable housing. These include amendments to long standing
zoning ordinances that will allow for development of 25-foot lots in Neighborhood Conservation Districts, reduction in minimum requirements for
Planned Residential Development and revisions to setback requirements that have a direct impact in encouraging land use and redevelopment efforts
geared towards affordable homeownership.
Financial barriers to purchasing affordable housing remain as a result of the inability to obtain financing and to meet the down payment required by
mortgage lenders. Many low-income families have excessive debt, deficient credit history, a housing cost burden, and insufficient savings for a down
payment. The City will address this barrier by continuing to provide down payment assistance to eligible purchaser in the City of Newport News.
Financial barriers continue to exist for homeowners who cannot afford to rehabilitate their homes when they are not safe or livable environments. Often
when these deficiencies are not addressed, the issues compound and the household cannot maintain ownership of their homes. The City will provide
housing repair financing to homeowners who earn below 80% of the AMI. This assistance is provided through a combination of grants, deferred payment
loans, and low interest loans.
NNRHA will continue development of additional new single-family homeownership units in a style that is consistent with the historic context of the
Southeast Community and that are developed in a way that increases the affordability and sustainability of the unit. New house designs mirror the
character of existing neighborhood houses while providing more modern interior features and energy efficient construction and appliances for
sustainability.
95Jump to an indexed page (228 of 228)