NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — More than a dozen vacant properties will soon become affordable homes. The Metro Government gave the land to a non-for profit in return that organization must create homes for low and moderate-income families.
The Housing Fund CEO, Marshall Crawford says he's trying to help change housing cost.
Just two years ago, the Mayor’s Office of Housing created Nashville’s first Community Land Trust to focus on more cost-effective housing options for low and moderate-income families.
The metro government selected the private nonprofit as its partner to do just that.
“The Community Land Trust is when we the nonprofit organizations owns the land and we’re able to build housing on that particular land,” said Crawford.
The effort is to create more affordable housing, so by this time next year 15 vacant properties including this empty lot will soon be a home. That’s all across the city from North Nashville, to Madison to Old Hickory.
“It is expensive, and a lot of what people are saying is because of the cost of land here it’s very expensive to afford and obtain housing here in Nashville,” Crawford said.
Right now, they are just 15 empty lots, once owned by the government, but soon they'll be homes.
“This is just another tool in the toolkit of being able to build some units and make them obtainable for all income levels,” said Crawford.
But to get in one these homes you must earn 80% or less of the median income for the metropolitan area.
“For a household of four right now that’s around $53,900, so they couldn’t exceed that amount and still be eligible to buy one of these homes,” said Kay Bowers, executive director of nonprofit housing developer New Level Community Development Corp.
Bowers also a Community Land Trust member says this is a start but more still needs to be done.
“The price for homes to buy as well as the cost of rent has just accelerated astronomically,” Bowers said.
The Housing Fund has a five year deadline.
