Housing Development Fund Awarded $500,000 Greater Hartford Gives Grant for Downpayment Assistance to First-Time Homebuyers

Homeownership Equity Fund will provide up to 24 lower-income Greater Hartford households with $20,000 in down payment and other financial assistance at 0% interest 

Leah had not seen herself as someone who wanted to put down roots, but rising rents and her family’s experience changed her outlook. After her mother became seriously ill and passed away, Leah lived with relatives. Seeing rents climb sharply made buying feel more practical and homeownership offered the stability she wanted. Unfortunately, Leah struggled to reconcile the mortgage amount she qualified for with what she could truly afford.

Determined not to become “house poor,” Leah sought responsible guidance. She learned about the Housing Development Fund which offered assistance to make the financing clearer and determine how to make it more manageable. Leah was able to purchase her first home in Hartford with a zero-percent downpayment loan through HDF’s Homeownership Equity Fund program, funded with the support of a $600,000 grant from the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation (then known as the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving).

“I am the first woman in my family to buy a home of my own,” Leah said. “Homeownership is beautiful and exciting, but it’s scary. When I started working with HDF, I felt seen. They were able to explain the difference between net and gross income and that my net income was enough to buy a house, one that is bigger and better than anything I had envisioned.”

To assist more Greater Hartford families seeking to become first-time homebuyers, Greater Hartford Gives has awarded the Housing Development Fund an additional $500,000 grant to support the Homeownership Equity Fund. This grant will allow HDF to provide 24 lower-income households with zero-percent loans for down payment and closing costs to eligible households in towns served by the Foundation. The program is one of the few downpayment assistance programs in the State of Connecticut with a no-interest loan.

HDF launched the Homeownership Equity Program in July 2022. Since then, 133 households have received support, including 54 in Greater Hartford. As a HUD-certified homeownership counseling agency, HDF provides all program participants with free one-to-one, pre-purchase homeownership counseling and a six-hour education course. (While the Greater Hartford Gives grant will be used solely for downpayment and closing cost assistance loans, HDF’s counseling and education services will be made available through other resources.)

To participate in the program, households must earn 70 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI). While most HDF home purchase assistance loans have historically gone to Fairfield County households, Hartford-area lending has more than doubled over the past three years. The average AMI for HDF-supported buyers is 78%. The average AMI for buyers in Greater Harford is 58%. This income is considered ‘very low’ for subsidized rental housing and one at which homeownership would be extremely challenging without the Homeownership Equity Fund.

“HDF is fortunate to have the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation as a strategic partner in our efforts to help more low-income folks in the Hartford area build wealth through homeownership,” said HDF President & CEO Kiley Gosselin. “The Homeownership Equity Fund was born out of a desire to remove financial barriers to homeownership that are faced by households with limited financial resources. The financial support received from Greater Hartford Gives is essential and allows HDF to continue offering the Homeownership Equity Fund loan at 0-percent interest to Hartford area households who need it. We are so grateful for this support. “

According to The Greater Hartford Gives Foundation service area 2026 Equity Report, homeownership rates among white households are 77 percent, almost double that of Black households (44 percent) and more than double that of Latino households (35 percent). In Hartford, only 26 percent of all households own their home. In the Capitol Region COG service area, 35 percent of adults ages 18 to 34 own their homes including 46 percent of white households, 21 percent of Black households, and 21 percent of Latino households.

HDF recently secured multiple grants to launch a new Homeownership Construction Program. The program will expand low- and moderate-income homeownership opportunities in Hartford through a $6 million grant from the State Department of Housing, including $2 million designated for Hartford, and a $2 million grant from the City of Hartford. Together, these funds will support the development of up to 25 new homeownership units in Hartford and help bridge the gap between construction costs and affordable sale prices.

HDF is partnering with the City of Hartford and the Hartford Land Bank to provide low-cost, flexible construction financing and grants to primarily local developers building single-family and multifamily, owner-occupied homes on vacant lots and blighted properties. HDF will also help identify and support income-eligible buyers. HDF is also supporting, or in discussions to support, larger affordable homeownership projects in West Hartford, Simsbury, and Hartford’s Clay Arsenal and Northeast neighborhoods. These efforts will create additional demand for down payment assistance resources such as the Equity Fund for low-income households in Greater Hartford Gives’ service area.

“As part of Greater Hartford Gives’ sustained commitment to expand access to quality, affordable housing, this continuation grant to the Housing Development Fund’s Homeownership Equity Fund represents a vital and proven strategy to promoting homeownership among low-income residents in Greater Hartford,” said Greater Hartford Gives Community Impact Officer Damion Baker. “Homeownership is one of the most effective means to build generational wealth, create more stability for families, and promote improved community connections and investments. The Foundation looks forward to seeing how we can continue to grow this work to make homeownership accessible to more households in the communities we serve.”

Greater Hartford Gives Foundation is a community foundation, a hub for community-driven change. We fuel impact throughout Greater Hartford and beyond by making connections, providing funding, and sharing knowledge. Our goal is to create an inclusive region where everyone prospers. Together, with a powerful network of changemakers, we identify our neighbors’ most pressing needs and invest resources in initiatives that dismantle racial and economic barriers and improve quality of life. In our 100-year history, we have invested more than $1 billion throughout the region. Join us in building a Greater Hartford full of opportunity. Learn more at greaterhartfordgives.org.