Asheville City Council has approved a resolution to allocate $10 million of the 2024 Affordable Housing Bond to the Western North Carolina Affordable Housing Loan Fund. This allocation reflects the City of Asheville Council vision to increase the supply of affordable housing within Asheville’s city limits. The $10 million allocation is the first step in deploying the $20 million approved by voters in the 2024 Affordable Housing Bond in November, 2024.
The funds will be administered by Self-Help Credit Union through a loan agreement that includes underwriting, servicing, and loan administration duties. Self-Help Credit Union will leverage City funds to enable a much larger source of gap financing for affordable multifamily projects in the city limits.
Background
The WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund provides low-interest loans to developers. It was created in early 2024 by a partnership between Self Help Credit Union and Dogwood Health Trust. The loan fund is currently used to create and preserve affordable rental housing.
The City has been invited to participate in the fund and City involvement should dramatically increase the number of projects the fund can support, ensuring the City’s public dollars go further in addressing critical community needs. Self-Help staff will take over all underwriting and loan administration duties, allowing City staff to focus resources on additional Council priorities in the Affordable Housing Plan.
Since low-interest gap financing is challenging for many projects, by joining the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund, the City can strategically partner with Dogwood, leveraging the City’s 0% interest capital with private funds to offer projects an impactful low interest rate (currently 2.45%), closing funding gaps that can otherwise stall affordable housing projects.
