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Connecticut Homeowner Assistance Program Underway

Connecticut Public Radio | By Michayla Savitt
Published June 22, 2022 at 4:26 PM EDT
A woman walks up the stairs to a newly renovated unit in the Colonial Village public housing complex in Norwalk. After spending years to get local zoning approval, the project is now waiting on state funding to move forward. Every year, state legislators earmark millions of dollars to build new affordable housing. But as the housing market has heated up, Connecticut Public’s Accountability Project has found there’s a $450 million pot of money that hasn’t been spent.
Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public
A woman walks up the stairs to a newly renovated unit in the Colonial Village public housing complex in Norwalk. After spending years to get local zoning approval, the project is now waiting on state funding to move forward. Every year, state legislators earmark millions of dollars to build new affordable housing. But as the housing market has heated up, Connecticut Public’s Accountability Project has found there’s a $450 million pot of money that hasn’t been spent.

With rents and home prices on the rise, Connecticut officials are touting a new state down payment assistance program that will help new homeowners. They say more than a dozen people have applied since the program launched a week ago.

The state has allocated $20,000,000 for the program and officials estimate it could help 500 to 1,000 home buyers. The program offers assistance to low and moderate-income homebuyers and gives up to $50,000 to borrowers.

Governor Ned Lamont said at a press conference Wednesday that the “Time to Own” program is filling a need when higher priced homes are dominating the housing market.

“We've got to do everything we can to help renters and those first time homebuyers step up and be able to get the opportunity for ownership as well,” he said.

Applicants must have been living in Connecticut for the last three years and make less than 80%of the median income for the area they plan to buy in.

Nandini Natarajan, CEO of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority said the opportunity is especially important for prospective homeowners in Connecticut cities like Hartford.

“Homeownership can lead to stronger, more resilient communities, and for most Americans, homeownership still represents the best path forward to building intergenerational wealth,” she explained.

The loans will have a zero percent interest rate with no required monthly payment and part of the loan will be forgiven every year.

Learn more at the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
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Michayla Savitt
Michayla Savitt is a reporter at CT Public, with a passion for covering climate change, the environment, and how they impact our well-being. While studying health & science reporting at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in 2022 she joined WNPR as a talk production intern, and enjoyed the station so much that she returned that summer as a newsroom intern. Before CT Public, Michayla spent several years as a host, reporter and manager at various media outlets.
See stories by Michayla Savitt

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