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Land‑bank leaders ask to expand Welcome Home Ohio and relax deed restrictions to boost infill housing
Summary
The Ohio Land Bank Association told the Senate Housing Committee that the Welcome Home Ohio pilot unlocked roughly $60 million in two months and helped produce about 440 properties; the association asked lawmakers to expand eligibility, raise the sales cap and allow promissory‑note protections rather than deed restrictions to ease mortgage financing.
Representatives of Ohio’s land banks urged the Senate Housing Committee to make several technical and programmatic changes to Welcome Home Ohio and to preserve funding included in the House budget.
Shawn Carvin of the Ohio Land Bank Association said the pilot program initially rolled out slowly but, after opening, land banks accessed about $60,000,000 within the first two months and supported roughly 440 new properties. Carvin told the committee that the association seeks changes in Senate Bill 145 to broaden program eligibility — including lowering minimum buildable square footage from 1,000 to 800 square feet to encourage infill — and increasing the maximum sales price from $180,000 to $220,000.
Carvin recommended programmatic changes to expand buyer income eligibility (from 80 percent area median income to as high as 120 percent AMI in some proposals), and requested flexibility in resale and occupancy restrictions. He also asked the committee to consider replacing deed restrictions with a secondary promissory note or mortgage; Carvin said deed restrictions complicate lending when mortgages are sold on the secondary market and can limit buyers’ access to the best interest rates.
When Senator Brenner asked whether the association would entertain indexing the sales cap to inflation, Carvin said the association would not oppose indexing and explained his understanding that the $180,000 cap applies only to first sales and not necessarily to subsequent transfers that remain subject to affordability requirements.
The committee noted written testimony from the Ohio Home Builders Association and Ohio Realtors and stood the item as a second hearing; no committee vote was recorded today.
