ORDINANCE approving and authorizing amendments to the City’s Home Repair Program Guidelines, authorized pursuant to Ordinance No. 2018-22, as amended by Ordinance No. 2020-115, to add Emergency Repair Assistance as a new Project Classification and increase the Maximum Project Cost Cap

The Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) recommends Council approval of an Ordinance amending HCDD’s Home Repair Program (HRP) Guidelines with respect to Tier I – Emergency Repair Assistance and the Maximum Project Cost Increase.

The objective of the City of Houston’s (City) HRP is to ease life, health, and safety hazards resulting from substandard conditions in a home owned and occupied by low- and moderate-income homeowners.

The amendment to the HRP Guidelines will reflect the following:

1. The addition of the Emergency Repair Assistance to the Tier I Assistance section. Emergency Repairs are defined as damage or deficiencies to a home that pose an imminent threat to the Homeowner’s life, health, and safety or protect the property from further structural damage.  The cost of repairs will not exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00).  

    

2. The maximum project cost cap will be increased from two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) to two-hundred-fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00).  On January 24, 2018, by Ordinance No. 2018-056, City Council authorized and approved the Master Contractor Agreement (MCA) for the City's HRP. As a result, the HRP MCA, Tri-Party Agreement, and all related legal documents currently indicate project costs and grant amounts are not to exceed $200,000.00. With the cost of repairs (base reconstruction) routinely approaching and even surpassing the existing $200,000.00 limit, there is little to no available project budget to address the site-specific environmental hazards to the home, such as lead, asbestos remediation, and mold abatement. The maximum project cost cap will be increased from $200,000.00 to $250,000.00, with the intent of providing sufficient funding to accommodate a majority of homes requiring reconstruction plus any additional site-specific costs to address items such as accessibility enhancements and asbestos remediation.

 The aforementioned HRP Guidelines Amendments are funded through local TIRZ Affordable Housing funds, while other HRP activities are funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement program.

The Housing and Community Affairs Committee reviewed this item on November 17, 2020.

04/09/2012 (O) 2012-334

01/24/2018 (O) 2018-056

Roxanne Lawson

(832) 394-6307