HOUSTON, TX — Houston first-time buyers who were counting on city help for a down payment are facing a stop in the program for now. The Houston Homebuyer Assistance Program can provide up to $75,000, but the city’s Housing and Community Development Department says the money currently available has been exhausted and new applications are not being accepted or processed.
The pause matters because the program is one of the city’s main entry points for buyers who need help covering the upfront cost of a purchase. Officials say anyone who already has a pre-approval letter will not get an extension beyond the expiration date printed on that letter. Once that date passes, the file is closed.
What The Program Says
According to the program’s official page, the assistance is structured as a no-interest forgivable loan when funding is available again. Buyers who stay in the home for five years can have the full amount forgiven. If they sell or move out before that period ends, they owe the city a prorated share of the assistance they received.
To qualify, household income must be at or below 80% of the Area Median Income. The home also must be inside Houston city limits and pay taxes to the City of Houston. The city says it does not use credit score as part of the qualification test for this program.
Neighborhoods On Hold
A separate restriction applies in parts of the city’s Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens. Properties inside the UPRR sampling zone are suspended from all Housing and Community Development homebuyer and home repair programs while the Environmental Protection Agency investigates possible health effects linked to a former Union Pacific Railroad wood-preservation site.
That means buyers in those boundaries face a different set of rules than applicants elsewhere in Houston. The suspension is tied to the investigation and applies for its duration, leaving some households unable to move forward even if general program funding returns. The city has not given a timeline for when that separate hold will end.
Other Aid Still Listed
Buyers affected by Hurricane Harvey may also look at the Harvey Homebuyer Assistance Program 2.0. The program offers as much as $125,000 in down payment and closing cost help, and more than $19 million has already been invested, according to the city’s program information.
Even there, unreviewed applications are on hold until additional funding becomes available. For Houston buyers, that leaves two layers of uncertainty: one program that is out of money for now, and another that is still waiting on more funds before staff can keep moving applications through the process.
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