Habitat Charlotte Region’s Critical Home Repair program provides comprehensive repairs designed to address issues where an income-qualified homeowner’s health and safety might be at risk. Extending the functional life of the home allows the owners, often seniors living on fixed incomes, to age in place in the safety and security of their own home, while also preserving more of our community’s affordable housing units.
An often overlooked part of our community’s lack of affordable housing is preserving existing affordable homes. Due to the age of the affordable housing stock, many owner-occupied homes in the Charlotte Region are in need of significant repairs. In many cases, those homeowners are seniors living on fixed incomes who cannot afford necessary repairs and are in jeopardy of being displaced.
Critical Home Repair addresses repairs where the owner’s health and safety may be at risk, with the goal of allowing homeowners to age safely in their homes without fear of displacement. For each project, a home assessment is completed to identify critical repairs needed. Here are some items that Critical Home Repair does and does not address.
If you aren’t sure if your home’s needed repairs would fall into this list, please reach out to the CHR Hotline at 704.716.5639 or email CHRapplications@habitatCLTregion.org.
Approved families for the Critical Home Repair program must also agree to the following conditions to participate in the program:
If able, we ask our Partner Families to pay it forward by helping to improve the quality of life in our community through volunteer work. Partner Families may be asked to complete volunteer hours.
Volunteer work is flexible and tailored to the capabilities of the Partner Family. Examples of volunteer work include but not limited to:
Volunteer work can be completed by the Partner Family, or they can designate other helpers to volunteer on their behalf.
Habitat Charlotte Region’s mission is to help to preserve the affordable housing in the Charlotte Region through the completion of extensive repairs on owner-occupied homes. In partnership, Habitat will ask to commit to certain restrictions on the use and sale of your home for up to a 5-year period.
In order to qualify for the Critical Home Repair program, certain criteria must be met by the applicants and the home itself. These criteria include, but are not limited to:
Program applicants must also be willing to agree to a partnership agreement with Habitat Charlotte Region, (see above).
Due to overwhelming demand, the Critical Home Repair is often limited to certain ZIP codes. If your home is in one of our approved ZIP codes at that time, you may be invited to apply to the repair program.
If you have questions about the application process, please email CHRapplications@habitatCLTregion.org or call the CHR Hotline at 704.716.5639.
The typical time from submitting an application to completion of repairs is typically one year.
Critical Home Repairs are completed at no financial cost to the homeowner. Your repayment to Habitat Charlotte Region comes in the form of volunteer hours and a five-year deed restriction on your home. A deed restriction does NOT allow Habitat Charlotte Region to take your home away; it just ensures your home stays affordable for the foreseeable future, even if you should decide to sell it later.
Critical Home Repair homeowners may need to complete community service hours, but all of those hours do not have to be completed with Habitat Charlotte Region. CHR homeowners are not required to work on their own home and accommodations can be made for those who are unable to participate in community service.
Yes, you can! To refer someone, please fill out the Critical Home Repair application request form and we’ll reach out to them. The form includes a space for your contact information should we need to contact you with any additional questions.
| Household Size | Bedrooms |
|---|---|
| Single adult or couple with no children | 2 |
| Single adult or couple with 1 child | 3 |
| Single adult or couple with 2 children | 3 |
| Single adult or couple with 3 children | 4 |
| Single adult or couple with 4 children* | 4 |
| Single adult or couple with 5 or more children | 5 |
| Single adult or couple with 4 children where age (13 or over), age difference (4 yrs or more apart), or gender doesn't allow sharing | 5 |
House sizes for households with multiple adults or adults who are not married will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
* Children of the same gender who are under 13-years-old and fewer than 4 years apart in age could be required to share a room.
