Sarasota County offers funding help for low-income housing developers, buyers

Sarasota County is taking applications to provide funding for the developers of affordable single-family houses and will later offer up to $75,000 per household in purchase assistance for those homes.

The developer funding is through Sarasota County’s Acquisition, Rehabilitation and New Construction for Homeownership program and is for houses built or rehabbed in unincorporated portions of the county.

The funding for the initiative is up to $1.35 million and comes Florida’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership program.

According to a statement, the money is earmarked for public, private or nonprofit developers working on single-family homes to be sold to households earning up to 80% of Sarasota County's Area Median Income.

A chart included with the statement shows 80% of AMI in the Sarasota MSA is $91,000 for a family of four.

The application portal opened Monday and will close Aug. 3 at 5 p.m.

Once an application is in, county staff will review it and score it according to the approved Local Housing Assistance Plan scoring criteria. If approved, construction must be completed and transferred to new owners within 18 months of the developer receiving the award.

Applications are available here.

Once the homes are built and ready for sale, down payment and closing cost assistance will be available to first time buyers who meet the income requirements through the SHIP Purchase Assistance program.

A Sarasota County spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that up to $75,000 per household will be available.

It is not clear when the applications will open up, but prospective buyers can be notified by signing up here.

The programs are administered through the Housing and Community Development Program.