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Housing Improvement Funds Now Available for Guilford Residents

In Dec. 2018, Guilford received $442,000 through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Small Cities program. The program allows low- to moderate-income Guilford residents apply for funds through the program to make their homes safer, healthier, and more efficient and, as of Feb. 6, the application process is now open.

There was a line of people in the Town Clerk’s Office on Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. when the application window first opened. The money is awarded to qualified applicants on a first come, first served basis and as of Feb. 11, 17 residents had already submitted paperwork.

The money is federal department of housing money that is funneled through the state and given to towns with a population of fewer than 50,000. To qualify for the money, homeowners must be up to date on municipal taxes, have 10 percent equity in the home, and not exceed a limited annual income threshold based on the number of people in the home.

“The money can be doled out to qualified individuals based on an income test and up to $30,000 per individual project,” First Selectman Matt Hoey said previously. “When we applied for this, we had to submit a list of 10 folks who could submit to us a letter of intent to participate in the program based on the criteria. We had 43 people identify themselves as potential beneficiaries.”

Possible uses for the grant money already identified include replacing failed furnaces, roofs, windows, and septic systems, and adding ADA modifications to homes such as entrance ramps and bathroom modifications. The grant has income thresholds, but Hoey said the money isn’t limited to those living in affordable or age-restricted housing.

While the money comes to the town, the town will not be directly responsible for managing or handing out the grant monies. Back when the town first applied for this grant, it used grant consultant Lisa Low of Low and Associates to help the town through the intricacies of federal and state grant processes. That same group will help lead the town through the administration of the grant, according to Hoey.

“They will help manage these projects,” he said. “They will do the bidding, they will hire the contractors, the money will come through us and we will pay it out according to their directions...There will be a project manager for this and he will manage these projects. The money doesn’t go directly to the homeowners. It gets distributed through this reimbursement process through Low and Associates.”

Applications for residents to apply for this funding are currently available on the town website www.ci.guilford.ct.us.