Santa Fe County Commissioners have approved legislation to create a Developer Assistance Program to help encourage the construction of more affordable housing.
The program creates a process for developers to apply for grants or loans to develop, rehabilitate or preserve affordable housing and allows the county to donate land or buildings that developers could use to build affordable housing.
Executive Director of Housing Operations for the County Jordan Barela told Commissioners on Tuesday that regulations set forth will offer a blueprint of how affordable housing can be created.
“These grants can be used to support the cost of acquiring land, an existing building or other real property for the purpose of developing affordable housing, developing or constructing an affordable housing project, converting a building not initially created for affordable housing into an affordable housing project, rehabilitating a building whose primary purpose is to provide affordable housing, or affordable housing services to persons of low or moderate income,” he said.
In July, the County Commissioners approved a resolution and ordinance which formally adopted the County’s 2023 Affordable Housing Plan and Housing Assistance Grant and Loan Ordinance pursuant to the New Mexico Affordable Housing Act.
The Developer Assistance Program (“DAP”) is the first Housing Assistance Grant and Loan Program being proposed by County staff as a result of the Resolution and Ordinance.
The program defines an affordable housing project as any work to provide housing primarily for low- to moderate-income households — or those earning less than 120% of the area's median income.