Haywood awards nearly $6 million for affordable housing developments
Haywood County commissioners approved two funding recommendations from its Affordable Housing Development Committee that will increase affordable housing stock at no cost to Haywood County taxpayers.
“It’s been very important to me because I wanted to make sure that even though the county was awarded this tremendous amount of money, that we were good stewards of that, and that it met with the keeping I guess of who Haywood County is, and that we’re developing housing and projects that are in keeping with Haywood County,” said Commissioner Jennifer Best, who made the motion to approve the recommendations. “We didn’t want something that was less in quality or had a stigma about it, so I appreciate all the hard work.”
No Haywood County taxpayer money is involved in the projects. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency as part of a package of aid in the wake of deadly flooding in 2021.
The county, state, region and nation have been struggling with a housing affordability problem for some time now, and answers remain elusive. Most experts agree that it’s related directly to housing supply; absent meaningful short-term rental regulation that could bring some of those units back to the long-term rental market, building more homes is one of the few options to flatten the curve on soaring home prices.
And as the third-fastest growing county in the 18-county Western North Carolina region, Haywood County’s demand for housing certainly isn’t decreasing.
According to data provided by Canopy MLS, in May, the average sales price for a home in Haywood County was $420,572 — the lowest in the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The three other counties in the MSA all reported average sales prices more than $100,000 higher than Haywood’s, including Buncombe ($694,958), Henderson ($524,859) and Madison ($577,775). Farther west, Jackson County’s average sales price for May was $632,764.
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Comments made by Haywood County Community and Economic Development Director David Francis during the July 15 Board of Commissioners meeting indicate that 52% of Haywood County renters are cost-burdened, defined as paying more than 30% of gross income on housing costs. A further 20% are what’s called “extremely cost burdened,” defined as paying more than 50% of gross income for housing costs.
All told, more than 70% of Haywood renters can’t afford to live here.
The larger recommendation, $3.5 million, went to a multi-family project developed by Mountain Housing Opportunities on five acres off Howell Mill Road and called Balsam Edge .
Once complete in the fourth quarter of 2026, the development will contain 84 units, 100% of which will be set aside for individuals making less than 80% of the area median income, defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as $46,200 for an individual and $66,000 for a family of four.
Of the 84 units, 14% will be set aside for individuals with physical impairments and 2% will be equipped to accommodate individuals with sight or hearing impairments. One-bedroom units will be around 660 square feet, with two-bedroom units at 1,000 square feet and three-bedroom units 1,250 square feet.
The total cost of the development is projected to be $21.5 million. MHO will be responsible for acquiring the balance of the project cost, but will utilize tax credits and other funding sources to bridge the gap.
The smaller funding recommendation, just under $2.5 million, went to a single-family development by local social services agency Mountain Projects, located between Canton and Clyde and called “Harkins Avenue.”
Total project cost for Harkins Avenue, which should be complete by the third quarter of 2027, is estimated at $10.2 million for 23 units. Dogwood Health Trust made a grant for the land acquisition back in 2021, and has also committed to paying for phases one and two of the environmental reports required by HUD.
Counselors at Mountain Projects will help prospective first-time home buyers understand the responsibilities of home ownership and carrying a mortgage. Some may even contribute “sweat equity” to the building of the home, which can be counted towards a down payment.
“That whole process is baked into this program,” said Francis.
Commission Chairman Kevin Ensley’s wife used to work for Mountain Projects, so he said he knows a lot more than most people about the agency’s operations.
“The self-help housing is kind of like Habitat for Humanity,” Ensley said. “They do build sweat equity. Mountain Projects, that program builds more homes than Habitat does, by a lot, in Haywood County.”
Ensley said he knows several people who have been able to get into homes because of such programs.
