Charlottesville Tomorrow News Center recently gave an in-depth account of Albemarle County's Housing Director Ron White's report to the Board of Supervisors for the previous fiscal year. The report covered county efforts to administer programs that benefit lower-income residents, including programs that assist homeowners with housing rehabilitation and emergency repairs.

The county has numerous efforts to assist with first-time homebuyers, as well. With a vision to create a safe and stable community by providing families with safe and stable homes, all area homeowners should become familiar with the county's efforts.

"Albemarle County participates in efforts to increase the number of affordable living choices within its borders through working with non-profit partners such as the Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) and the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP). Ron White, the County’s Director of Housing, gave the Board of Supervisors a report on his office’s activities during the previous fiscal year at their meeting on August 5, 2009."

Charlottesville Tomorrow News Center also posted highlites from White's report:

• The County’s Homebuyer Assistance Program helped 18 families, down from 38 in the previous year. White said the decrease is due to fewer people buying homes as well as tighter restrictions on mortgages
• County funds made up 14% of the $7.5 million expended by the County and its partners on affordable housing initiatives. The rest came from a mixture of private and other public funds
• Over 450 families in the County received rental assistance
• The Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) rehabilitated 27 houses at a cost of $572,443
• The Piedmont Housing Alliance provided financial counseling to 169 Albemarle families. 91 successfully purchased a home, and 57 families sought help with potential mortgage defaults.
• For the past six months, the County has had no families stop using rental vouchers. Without that turnover, White said the County is unable to issue vouchers to new families. He added that if new funding does not materialize, the County may have to eliminate vouchers for some families currently receiving them.
• The County received $700,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to support the creation of the Crozet Meadows Project. The project begins construction next week and will rehabilitate 28 existing homes to Energy Star standards and will build 38 new units for seniors.
• The 88-unit Treesdale Park complex off of Park Street has received preliminary notification that it will be eligible for low-income tax credits.

Read full story, including a podcast of the meeting and Ron White's full report.