Low Income Housing in Delaware

Low Income Housing Information

Low income housing can be a godsend, but if you don't know how to apply, or who to get your information to, how can you ever expect to be approved?

Since laws and procedure vary from state to state, you'll need to learn a few specifics before applying. We can help!

What are the Advantages of Low Income Housing in DE?

As a general rule, there is no such thing as an advantage to living in low income housing anywhere. In order to qualify, the beneficiary usually has to show that they are financially challenged and the low income subsidized housing is a just a means to help them in an otherwise bad situation. That is, low income housing is a means of helping people and does not really provide any advantages as such to the beneficiary, though some developers and property owners receive valid advantages for creating and maintaining low income housing through the granting of government incentives.

That being said, there is some advantage to people that qualify for low income housing in the state of Delaware because of its aggressive community land trust (CLT) movement. The idea of the CLT is not new and has been around since the 1960s, but the movement has rarely gained the level of publicly acceptability and popularity that it has in Delaware. The basic idea is that the CLT buys up swaths of land and/or individual homes and guarantees that the homes and land remain accessible to low income people perpetually, though they may allow the beneficiaries to either buy homes, rent homes, or both as the case may be. In the meantime, the CLT lands remain under the basic ownership of the trust, which is operated by a non-profit housing advocacy organization and has very specific guidelines on how the land can be used and who qualifies to benefit from the CLT programs. Such measures balance private and community interests and keep factors such as absentee ownership and speculation from undermining available affordable housing.

Though there are smaller independent CLTs in Delaware, the largest and most successful of them is the Diamond State CLT (www.diamondstateclt.org), which operates on a state-wide basis. Funded in 2006, this non-profit charitable organization is governed by a Board of Directors that is composed of one third small business and corporate representatives, one third neighborhood associations and charitable organizations, and one third of low income residents and low income community representatives. Within this democratic framework, the CLT operates a number of programs which enable low income people to receive excellent terms for both buying and renting homes on trust properties.

The basic idea is that once properties are added to the trust, they are sold to low income homebuyers at rates well below the actual property value. Though the home is sold, the land is not and though the homeowner enjoys all of the basic benefits of homeownership (security, equity, legacy for their heirs, and so on) the property also has very specific restrictions that ensure that the land remains under the control of the trust and that it remains perpetually affordable and reserved for use by low income people. Rental properties owned by the trust work the same way, the rental units must remain readily accessible to low income people that require housing assistance.

The basic low income housing options offered by the government remain the federal programs as well as some state programs and follow the same general pattern as similar programs throughout the country. However, the CLT offers low income people a number of options - and even possible advantages - that are not commonly found elsewhere in the United States.