LOU-Home Hosts Affordable Housing Session Thursday

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff writer
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

While the Belle Rivers and Eastover affordable housing developments aren’t expected to be completed until the summer or fall of 2019, LOU-Home is holding the first information session on how to apply and how to improve credit scores.

The information session will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Lafayette County & Oxford Public Library in the auditorium.
The two developments will each contain 48 units, most of which will be townhouses with four adjoining residences per building.
The estimated rent for the three-bedroom, two and a half bath, two-car garage homes is expected to be less than $700 a month.
To be eligible for one of the homes, one cannot make more than 60 percent of the median income for Lafayette County, which is about $43,000. After 15 years, tenants can purchase the homes.
A public-private partnership was awarded $15 million in competitive funding to construct the 96 new townhouses.
The homes will be constructed both inside the city limits and immediately outside the city limits.
LOU-HOME, Inc. partnered with a local development team led by Stewart Rutledge in its efforts to obtain this type of funding.
LOU-HOME board member Kate Kellum said people who attend the meeting Thursday are those who want to understand more about the development, including the construction timeline, the proposed layout of the development, the application requirements, the approximate rent and the availability of the homes after 15 years.
“We also hope to help attendees learn more about credit scores and the availability of free credit counseling service from LOU-Home,” Kellum said.
The application process is expected to begin in spring 2019.
“People will be able to sign up (Thursday) to get more information about that process as it becomes available,” Kellum said.
LOU-Home offers free counseling, credit and money management counseling throughout the year.
Volunteers will be available to read with the children of people attending the session.
For more information, contact nekici@louhome.org.