Down Payment Assistance Loan Program: The Highlands County Down Payment Assistance Loan Program assists first-time homebuyers by paying a portion of their down payment, closing costs and the costs of rehabilitating an existing home. The program provides second mortgages to eligible applicants to purchase newly constructed or existing single family homes.

Housing Partnership Activities:  The Housing Partnership Program provides loans to organizations that wish to provide permanent owner occupied housing for lower income families. The housing funds may be used to acquire vacant land and construct new housing, acquire and demolish a blighted structure and create new housing or acquire and renovate existing housing. The agency will be expected to acquire, develop, and sell the property and identify and assist qualified buyers. Highlands County Habitat for Humanity receives funding under this program.

Local Housing Partnership: The Highlands County SHIP Program is intended to increase the affordability of affordable residential units by combining local resources and cost saving measures into the local housing partnership and using public and private funds to reduce the cost of housing.

Homebuyer Training Classes and Money Skills Training Classes: The Housing Department provides Homebuyer Training and Money skills classes each month in both Spanish and English.

Owner Occupied Home Repair Program: The Owner Occupied Home Repair Program provides loans to owner occupied very low and low income households to assist them with home repairs. The loans may be used to eliminate code violations, upgrade major systems, make a limited amount of general property improvements and pay for soft costs.

Warm Weather Retro-Fit Program: This program is a rant to permit retro-fits geared toward reduction in energy costs to very low and low income households. Retro-fits include, but are not limited to, water heater replacement, installation of ceiling fans, window replacement, window screens, screen doors, minor roof repairs, insulation, whole house fans, repairs to air conditioning and heating systems, and window film.

Disaster Mitigation/Recovery: SHIP funds may be used to provide emergency repairs to very low, low and moderate income households following a natural disaster as declared by the President of the United States , Governor of the State of Florida or by the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners . Funds can be used to purchase emergency supplies to weatherproof damaged home; interim repairs to avoid further damage; tree and debris removal required to make the individual housing unit habitable; construction of wells or repair of existing wells where public water is not available; post disaster assistance with non-insured repairs; and soft costs required to process assistance applications. The program is only implemented after a natural disaster.

Affordable Housing Land Bank: The Affordable Housing Land Bank Program establishes an inventory of surplus county owned lands that are designated by the Board of County Commissioners to be used for the purpose of affordable housing development or to be sold and the proceeds placed into a revolving fund that may be used by the Housing Department to acquire properties for future development.

Special Needs Housing/Rental Development Program: SHIP funds may be used as part of the local contribution for programs that construct multi-family rental housing. The SHIP funds that are used in these types of projects will be in the form of a deferred payment loan for 15 years at a 1% to 5% interest rate, depending upon cash flow of the project.

Foreclosure/Homeless Intervention Program: Highlands County will provide foreclosure intervention assistance on a first come, first serve basis to Highlands County homeowners. Those homeowners who have purchased a home through Highlands County ’s Down payment Assistance Program will be given first priority. The default must have been caused by circumstances beyond the applicant’s control and there must be a reasonable prospect that the applicant will be able to resume full mortgage payments to the primary lender. Eligible home owners may be offered this assistance one time only. 

Emergency Rental Assistance: The County will provide rental assistance and eviction intervention on a first come first served basis. This assistance is provided to very low, low and moderate income renter in Highlands County based upon FEMA funding availability. Eligible renters may be offered this assistance one time only.

CDBG Housing Rehab: CDBG funds in the Housing Category are used to provide major rehabilitation to owner occupied units that hose elderly, handicapped and low income Highlands County residents.

CDBG Economic Development:  The Highlands County Housing Department administers CDGB in the Economic Development category. This program offers up to $750,000 to businesses who will guarantee to create new jobs for persons who are low to moderate income in Highlands County . The grant will pay for public infrastructure.

Community Catalyst:  The Housing Department works extensively with lower income neighborhoods to catalyze changes from the inside out. Community-based planning is the process of having citizens in a community come together with government planners to determine how their community will be developed in the future. To be successful, it relies on very extensive involvement of residents, property owners and other interested groups to develop a vision of the area being planned and to incorporate that vision into the plan. This requires that citizens work collaboratively with the planners and the Board of County Commissioner to realize a shared vision.