§ 93.200 - Eligible activities: General.

§ 93.200 Eligible activities: General.

(a)

(1) HTF funds may be used for the production, preservation, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing and affordable housing for first-time homebuyers through the acquisition (including assistance to homebuyers), new construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of nonluxury housing with suitable amenities, including real property acquisition, site improvements, conversion, demolition, and other expenses, including financing costs, relocation expenses of any displaced persons, families, businesses, or organizations; for operating costs of HTF-assisted rental housing; and for reasonable administrative and planning costs. Not more than one third of each annual grant may be used for operating cost assistance and operating cost assistance reserves. Operating cost assistance and operating cost assistance reserves may be provided only to rental housing acquired, rehabilitated, reconstructed, or newly constructed with HTF funds. Not more than 10 percent of the annual grant shall be used for housing for homeownership. HTF-assisted housing must be permanent housing. The specific eligible costs for these activities are found in §§ 93.201 and 93.202. The activities and costs are eligible only if the housing meets the property standards in § 93.301, as applicable, upon project completion.

(2) Acquisition of vacant land or demolition must be undertaken only with respect to a particular housing project intended to provide affordable housing within the time frames established in the definition of “commitment” in § 93.2.

(3) HTF funds may be used to purchase and/or rehabilitate a manufactured housing unit, and purchase the land upon which a manufactured housing unit is located. The manufactured housing unit must, at the time of project completion, be connected to permanent utility hook-ups and be located on land that is owned by the manufactured housing unit owner or land for which the manufactured housing owner has a lease for a period at least equal to the applicable period of affordability.

(b) Forms of assistance to projects. A grantee may provide HTF funds as equity investments, interest-bearing loans or advances, non-interest-bearing loans or advances, interest subsidies consistent with the purposes of this part, deferred payment loans, grants, or other forms of assistance that HUD determines to be consistent with the purposes of this part. Each grantee has the right to establish the terms of assistance, subject to the requirements of this part.

(c) Multi-unit projects.

(1) HTF funds may be used to assist in the development of one or more housing units in a multi-unit project. Only the actual HTF eligible development costs of the assisted units may be charged to the HTF program. If the assisted and non-assisted units are not comparable, the actual costs may be determined based on a method of cost allocation. If the assisted and non-assisted units are comparable in terms of size, features, and number of bedrooms, the actual cost of the HTF-assisted units can be determined by prorating the total HTF-eligible development costs of the project so that the proportion of the total development costs charged to the HTF program does not exceed the proportion of the HTF-assisted units in the project.

(2) After project completion, the number of units designated as HTF-assisted may be reduced only in accordance with § 93.203, except that in a project consisting of all HTF-assisted units, one unit may be converted to an onsite manager's unit if the grantee determines the conversion is reasonable and that, based on one fewer HTF-assisted unit, the costs charged to the HTF program do not exceed the actual costs of the HTF-assisted units and do not exceed the subsidy limit established pursuant to § 93.300(a).

(d) Terminated projects. An HTF-assisted project that is terminated before completion, either voluntarily or otherwise, constitutes an ineligible activity and the grantee must repay any HTF funds invested in the project to its HTF account from which the funds were drawn (i.e., local or Treasury account), in accordance with § 93.403(b). A project that does not meet the requirements for affordable housing must be terminated and the grantee must repay the HTF funds to the grantee's HTF account.