$25,000 For Renovations: DC Offers Grants for Historic Home Repairs

• May 3, 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

The recent designations of neighborhoods as historic districts in DC has come with an added benefit: grants for home repairs.

Yesterday, the Office of Planning announced that the agency is accepting applications for the Historic Homeowner Grant Program. The grants from the program, for low- and moderate-income homeowners in various historic districts around the city, provide up to $25,000 for repairs. Awardees in the Anacostia Historic District can receive up to $35,000

The eligible historic districts are Shaw, Takoma Park, U Street, Fourteenth Street, Capitol Hill, LeDroit Park, Mount Vernon Square, Mount Vernon Triangle, Blagden Alley/Naylor Court, the Strivers' Section, and Mount Pleasant. The Wardman Flats, Emerald Street and Kingman Park historic districts are also eligible for the first time this year, the latter having just been designated in 2018.

Priority will be given to home renovations that involve "major structural repairs" or restore architecturally significant elements on the exterior, including windows, doors, ornamentation, porches, and original materials. Applicants must either be owner-occupant recipients of the Homestead Deduction, or have recently purchased the house with the intent of moving in within 60 days after construction is completed.

Depending on the household income level, the applicant may be required to match the grant award, paying up to 25 percent of the cost of the project for those in the middle income bracket (15 percent in Anacostia), or 50 percent for those in the highest eligible income bracket (40 percent in Anacostia). Grants are also awarded under the condition that any work done with grant funds must remain intact for a minimum of five years.

Applications can be submitted through July 1, with the intention that repairs can begin in May 2020. 

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-offers-grants-for-historic-preservation-home-repairs/15348