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http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/vt/index.html

Rural Development Housing Facts

SELF-HELP HOUSING –TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS
Purpose

To provide grant funds to eligible organizations who wish to operate and administer a program to assist qualified families to construct houses in rural areas.

Eligible Applicants

Be an organization which has the financial, legal, and administrative capacity to administer the grant.

Can be a State, political subdivision, or public nonprofit corporation, or;

A private nonprofit corporation that is owned and controlled by private persons or

interests and is organized and operated for purposes other than making gains or profits for the corporation.

Applications

Preapplications can be submitted to the Rural Development local office serving the particular county in which the construction is desired.

Funding

An allocation for this program is maintained by the National Office. Applications from eligible applicants will be submitted to National Office for funding.

Term

Grants are normally made on a two-year basis. Construction is generally in a group fashion, ordinarily composed of 6 to 8 families who agree to mutually provide labor to each other throughout the building period until all houses in the group are completed. Estimated time-frame for construction for each group of 6 to 8 families is 6 to 8 months. Three 8-month building cycles would complete the 24-month grant period.

Use of Grant Funds

Payment of salaries of personnel, employee benefits, etc.

Payment of necessary and reasonable office expenses such as utilities, equipment rental,

office rental, supplies, etc.

Purchase, lease, or maintenance of power or specialty tools (power saw, electric drill,

sabre saw, ladders, etc.). The participating families are expected to provide their own hand tools such as hammers and handsaws.

Payment of liability insurance and audit costs.

Payment of reasonable fees for training of grantee personnel.

Payment of legal costs, accountant fees to set up an accounting system.

Loan Limitations

The self-help must be less costly than having a contractor/builder do the job. The maximum grant amounts will be limited to:

An average technical assistance (TA) cost per unit should be no more than 15% of the

cost value of modest homes built in the area, or;

An average TA cost per unit that does not exceed the difference between the value

of modest homes in the area and average mortgage of the participating families minus $1,000, or;

A TA per unit cost that does not exceed an amount established by the State Director, or;

A negotiated amount for repair and rehabilitation type proposals.

General Comments

The self-help participant must, by agreement, contribute a significant amount of labor in order that house costs will be reduced and made more affordable. Family selected phases should be those requiring semi-skills of the workers and that can be performed with on-the-job supervision by the grant program construction supervisor. Families are not expected to perform those construction phases requiring licensed workers. Participants should be prepared to contribute approximately 30 hours of work per week per group member.