Sussex to apply for $2M for housing rehab

After hearing a presentation March 4 on the accomplishments of the county’s housing rehabilitation program, Sussex County Council decided to seek more than $2 million in federal funds for future projects.

“We’ve heard a lot about affordable housing in the last couple of weeks and a lot about affordable housing creation, but today I’m actually going to talk to you about how Sussex County works to preserve affordable housing,” said Brandy Nauman, the county community development director.

Nauman was referring to council discussions on how to address many pressing housing problems.

The Community Development Block Grant program, operated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, helps to maintain the quality of housing by funding repairs for income-eligible homeowners, such as roof work, and new heating systems and wells, Nauman said.

Prior to council’s unanimous vote to apply for federal funds channeled through the state, Councilman John Rieley said he recently returned from a National Association of Counties meeting in Washington, D.C., where he attended the affordable housing session.

“There are a lot of places in the country that are worse off than we are,” he said. “I know we have an issue here. We’re not the best, by any means, but I think these efforts are a big part of what helps us not be as bad as a lot of other places in the country. I’m grateful for everything you do. I think it’s one of the very best programs that we have. It’s a lot more efficient and cheaper to maintain your stock.” 

Nauman was joined at the council meeting by program coordinator Mike Jones, who showed photos of some projects that were completed last year.

There is $2.5 million available through the Delaware State Housing Authority to be divided between Sussex and Kent counties. Sussex County wants to use the funds in some rural areas outside Lewes and Millsboro, Nauman said.

“Our predominant use of this funding is housing rehabilitation,” she said. “It helps to maintain our existing housing stock. It includes repairs to roofing, new doors, windows, electrical, plumbing, HVAC systems, kind of everything.”

To be eligible for funding for repairs, the home must be owner-occupied and the owner’s primary residence. The owner must earn below 80% of the area median income. The house must be insured or insurable, and county taxes must be current.

The county often places liens on properties that are rehabilitated, and they are forgiven after a period of time. There is no lien for projects costing less than $5,000. For those costing $5,000 to $15,000, the lien lasts five years. For work costing $15,000 to $40,000, there is a 10-year lien. There is no interest charged, and the lien is forgiven after the time period expires.

The two criteria for eligibility are family size and income. For example, a two-person family cannot have an annual income of more than $62,550.

The county received more than $2 million in federal housing rehabilitation funds last year, Nauman said.

While her presentation focused on the federal Community Development Block Grant program, Nauman talked about other related programs that boosted the work of her office.

Among them, the county authorized $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the home repair program between April 2022 and December 2024. That covered nearly 200 more rehabilitation projects. 

Another $300,000 in federal HOME program funds paid for scattered site rehabilitation projects for 12 households.

The county late last year received $150,000 in surplus funds from a Delaware Division of Health and Human Services program that benefits older people and people with physical disabilities. That paid for a bulk purchase of about 30 aluminum ramps, Nauman said. Two of the temporary wheelchair-accessible ramps were installed and others should be put into use soon, she said.

Last year, emergency repairs funds provided by the county were increased to $1 million from the $300,000 of the previous three years, and 126 households received help. It covered such problems as frozen pipes, broken pumps and heating systems, accessibility modifications and other repairs.

Programs the county funds are in some ways easier to administer, Nauman said.

“Unlike the federal dollars, which have a significant amount of red tape and monitoring and compliance, the common council emergency funds that you provide allow us to respond very quickly to the need for repairs,” she said.

Nauman said she is worried sweeping federal aid cuts could reduce funding for rehabilitation programs.

“There is some concern that I, personally, have about this funding from CDBG,” she said. “There are major threats to HUD funding at the federal level.”

The county has not used all of the funds received in the past two years, and Nauman is hoping the money will still be available.

While county council looks at the long-term issues of affordable housing and struggles to launch an existing program, Reiley said the housing rehabilitation program has been addressing the issue in its own way.  

“We’ve had challenges trying to get the affordable rental program really rolling,” he said. “We’re going to have more units saved [through rehabilitation programs] than we’re going to add new through the programs we're trying to promote.”