Critical Home Repair Program
Fauquier Habitat for Humanity has expanded its mission to include a Critical Home Repair program designed to help our partners address critical health and safety issues in their homes, accessibility issues for seniors and people with disabilities, and code violations. Providing help with home repairs works to alleviate substandard living conditions and preserve existing affordable housing stock throughout Fauquier and Rappahannock counties. The repairs are considered critical when they improve the health, safety, accessibility, and/or energy efficiency of residents and their homes.
While our program is open to all households that meet our eligibility guidelines, our program typically serves seniors, low-income families, and people with disabilities who have limited resources to complete the repairs themselves. Additionally, we are able to perform repairs on owner-occupied homes. This includes manufactured homes built on a permanent foundation where the homeowner owns both the home and the land the house resides on.
Fauquier Habitat provides a holistic, whole-house approach to repairs and prioritizes repairs based on the highest impact for our partners. This program is not meant for cosmetic changes – it is meant to improve the safety, accessibility, and health of you and your home.
Repair examples include:
· Installing smoke & CO detectors
· Roofing repairs/replacement
· Electrical repairs & upgrades
· Plumbing
· Exterior siding
· Bathroom & accessibility modifications, such as installing grab bars & ramps, shower conversions, widening doorways
· Drywall & flooring repairs
· Replacing windows to meet fire safety code
· Heating & cooling
· Structural carpentry relating to the structural integrity
· Diminishing common causes of respiratory illness including cockroach infestations, dust mites in old carpeting, mold, & improperly vented fuel-burning appliances.
To qualify for our program, you must meet the following criteria:
· You own and occupy the home being repaired.
· Your home is located in our service area.
· Your home is more than 10 years old
· You are not more than 60 days behind on your mortgage payments, or in danger of foreclosure or being condemned.
· You are current on your property taxes (includes payment plans) or have a deferral.
· You have, or are willing to secure homeowner’s insurance. *May be waived for households under 30% AMI
· You meet the income guidelines (80% AMI or below) based on # of residents in the home. *income is collected for all residents 18 years & older.
· You agree to pay the $150 program fee, due only after application approval and the Scope of Work is agreed upon with FHFH staff. This fee helps cover the cost of a criminal background check, application processing, and in-home construction assessment.
Fauquier Habitat for Humanity offers critical home repair and preservation grants and no-interest loans up to $20,000 to qualifying partners used to repair critical damage to a home or eliminate immediate hazards to health, safety, and/or sanitation. Grants and loans will also be used for home preservation activities, such as exterior painting, fence and porch repair, and property clean-up and maintenance. All loans are offered by FHFH at 0% interest and will vary in terms of repayment and forgiveness
