COLUMBUS — The Ohio Housing Finance Agency opened the application period for the new Single Family Tax Credit Program and will accept applications until 4 p.m. on April 5.

The program leverages public-private partnerships to increase the inventory of affordable, single-family housing for Ohio’s growing workforce. The program provides $50 million a year for four years to fill the financing gap to develop or substantially rehabilitate housing in Ohio.

“Creating housing for Ohio’s growing workforce is essential to the state’s long-term economic growth,” said Shawn Smith, executive director of OHFA. “This public-private partnership will develop safe, affordable housing and help Ohioans realize their dream of homeownership.”

Project applications must include a minimum of five single family dwellings to be constructed or blighted structures to be made habitable. The dwelling sites may be contiguous or “scattered” site. Each dwelling must include a minimum of two bedrooms and one and one-half baths.

Each dwelling must be sold to a qualified buyer, as defined by the program, who will use it as their primary residence. The sale price of the house must be affordable (i.e., no more than 30% of the qualified buyer’s monthly income) and remain affordable for 10 years after the initial sale.

The tax credit is calculated as the difference between the total development cost of the project and the aggregate appraised market value of all dwellings in the project. Proposed projects may receive up to a maximum of $50,000 in tax credits per dwelling, which are issued at the completion of the project. The tax credit can be claimed annually over a 10-year period with the annual amount equaling one-tenth of the total issued tax credit.

To learn more about the program and download the application visit: https://ohiohome.org/singlefamilytaxcredit.aspx.