Affordable Housing Trust Fund committee approves three home-repair bids, gives preliminary OK to three more

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee on May 13 approved three home-repair bids and gave preliminary approval to three additional projects, while staff described a growing wait list, limits on contractor capacity and ongoing outreach to city leaders and community advocates.

Corey Kemp, housing administrator for the Department of Metropolitan Development, said the fund is “almost everything is on contract right now” and that after current transactions the fund should show “an available balance of just over a million.” Kemp told the committee the round-3 bids include a $46,002.30 entry that remains pending and that most returned bids were below 20% of the threshold that would require borrowers to take on loans.

The action items approved by the committee included three firm home-repair contracts (addresses listed in the meeting packet as Fairlawn, Benninghoff and Wagner) and preliminary approvals for Judson Street, Herndon and Bellemeade projects pending on-site inspections and additional documentation. The committee also confirmed that one previously considered property on West Maryland was ineligible because it was a multifamily unit and thus not covered by the single-family repair program.

Why it matters: committee members said the approvals free up staff to move projects into construction and serve households with urgent repair needs. Members also emphasized the program’s role in retaining residents in their homes and argued that a visible wait list will help make the case for more funding from…