The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development announced earlier this month that applications are open for the Utilizing Progressive Lending Investments to Finance Transformation, or UPLIFT, program.
The program will address homes impacted by appraisal gaps by accelerating the pace of new construction and rehabilitation of quality affordable housing in strategically identified communities across Maryland.
“UPLIFT is a critical program in the state’s efforts to revitalize disinvested communities, and we’re excited to work with our local partners to make sure it’s a success,” Secretary Jake Day said. “This program will increase homeownership opportunities, address the appraisal gap, and improve quality of life, opening new pathways to work, wages, and wealth for more Marylanders.”
UPLIFT was funded for $10 million through the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which will be deployed as framed by HB625 (known as the “Appraisal Gap Bill”) passed in the 2023 legislative session. Through the program, selected developers will build, sell and rehabilitate quality affordable housing in targeted neighborhoods in accordance with design and construction standards that ensure quality, timely production and accountability.
UPLIFT will accomplish a variety of related goals, including:
• Increasing homeownership in disinvested neighborhoods
• Upgrading housing for legacy homeowners in appraisal gap neighborhoods
• Revitalizing currently disinvested neighborhoods
• Reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions from the Maryland housing stock
• Expanding employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for Maryland workers and businesses, especially those from historically disadvantaged demographic groups
UPLIFT builds on the department’s Homeownership Works, or HOW, pilot program, created in 2021, which is investing $10 million into new construction and rehabilitation projects in two Maryland neighborhoods, Johnston Square in Baltimore and Pine Street in Cambridge. The four homes, valued at about $24,000 pre-rehabilitation, are now entering the market priced in the low $300,000 range.
UPLIFT projects are required to be in both a Low-Income Census Tract and in an area designated as a Maryland Sustainable Community. Locally on the Eastern Shore, the areas that qualify include Cambridge (noted above as one of the neighborhoods receiving HOW funds), and also Salisbury, Princess Anne, Pocomoke and Snow Hill.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis dependent on funding availability. Projects must meet the Threshold Criteria detailed in the Program Guide.
To learn more about the UPLIFT Program visit dhcd.maryland.gov/HousingDevelopment/Pages/UPLIFT.aspx.
Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.
