St. Joseph County Housing Consortium

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FY 2025-2029 Five-Year Consolidated Plan City of South Bend, IN Strategies: To meet this goal,the following activities and strategies may be undertaken by St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka: 2-A: Support and encourage both private developers and nonprofit housing providers to develop plans for the construction of new affordable and mixed-income rental housing. 2-B: Support and encourage the rehabilitation of the existing housing stock and new housing which will be decent, safe, sound and affordable rental housing to lower-income households. 2-C: Support and encourage the development of independent housing and community living arrangements for the disabled in the County and both Cities. 2-D: Provide financial assistance in the form of development subsidies,so low-income households that are cost burdened, particularly households whose incomes are at or below 60% of AMI, are able to afford decent, safe, and sound housing. 2-E: Promote partnerships with the local housing authorities and private and nonprofit housing developers to construct additional Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) multi-family rental housing in high opportunity areas of the County and Cities. Impediment 3: Continuing Need for Accessible Housing Units As an older built-up environment, there is a lack of accessible housing units in St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka. Since 41.5%of the County's housing units, 60.6%of South Bend's housing units, and 31.3% of Mishawaka's housing units were built prior to 1960, these units were not constructed with accessibility features. It is estimated that 13.4% of the County's overall population, 14.4%of South Bend's population, and 16.4%of Mishawaka's population is classified as disabled. Goal: Increase the number of accessible units for the physically disabled and developmentally delayed through new construction and rehabilitation of existing housing. Strategies: To meet this goal, the following activities and strategies may be undertaken by St. Joseph County and the Cities of South Bend and Mishawaka: 3-A: Promote programs to increase the amount of accessible housing through rehabilitation of existing housing stock for homeowners and renters. 3-B: Encourage the development of new construction of accessible and visitable housing through financial or developmental incentives. 3-C: Continue to enforce ADA and Fair Housing requirements for landlords to make "reasonable accommodations"for tenants who are disabled. 3-D: Continue to promote programs and provide funds to assist elderly homeowners with accessibility improvements to their properties so they may remain in their own homes. Impediment 4: Fair Housing Education and Outreach OMB Control No:2506-0117(exp.07/31/2025) 109