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Board adopts Prince William Affordable Housing Fund policies; $5 million annual contributions planned to build $31 million trust
Summary
The Board of County Supervisors unanimously adopted policies to stand up an Affordable Housing Fund intended to provide gap financing to preserve and create units affordable to households at 50% and 80% AMI, with planned $5 million annual contributions starting FY2027 to reach about $31 million by FY2029 and loan terms and scoring criteria set by staff.
The Prince William County Board of County Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt guidelines that will govern a new Affordable Housing Fund designed to provide low-interest gap financing for projects that create or preserve affordable rental and homeownership units.
Program design: Joanie Duckett, director of the Office of Housing and Community Development, said the fund will offer repayable, low-interest loans to fill financing gaps that would otherwise prevent developers from building or preserving affordable units. The fund will support households at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) and up to 80% AMI.
Funding and terms: Staff told the board the county plans annual contributions of $5,000,000 beginning in FY2027; by FY2029 those contributions would yield approximately $31,000,000 in the fund. The standard maximum loan per affordable unit is $75,000, and the county loan generally will not exceed 20% of a project's total non-county funding. Affordability restrictions will apply for a minimum of 15 years and up to 50 years or until loan repayment, whichever is later.
Administration and process: The Office of Housing said it will run an annual competitive NOFA process, with an introductory developer meeting in January 2026, a pre-application meeting in March 2026 and a NOFA release planned for May 1, 2026. Applications would be scored by an interdepartmental review team; the maximum points available under the scoring criteria is 210.
Board discussion and directive: Supervisors praised staff for the work and asked about potential administrative approval versus board-level review, off-cycle grants, land trusts and flexibility. Supervisor Bodie successfully offered a directive (accepted by the chair) for county staff and the county attorney to review Loudoun County's updated trust-fund policies and return with recommendations on possible administrative processes and other policy adjustments.
Next steps: Staff will host developer meetings in early 2026, release a NOFA on May 1, 2026, accept 90-day applications and seek board action on award recommendations around December 2026, per the timeline presented.
Quote: "The Affordable Housing Fund is the primary focus of the presentation that I'll be providing to you today," Duckett said, outlining eligibility, scoring and administration.
