Founded in 1991 as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville (Habitat) works to create simple, decent, affordable housing in partnership with low-income families, volunteers and the communities of greater Charlottesville. 

Habitat builds houses in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Buckingham, Greene and Louisa counties.  Since our founding, we have built more than 90 homes.

(photo at left in Habitat's Paton Street neighborhood.)

The Habitat for Humanity model provides a helping hand, not a hand out, for our Partner Families.  Partner Families invest hundreds of hours of their own labor and "sweat equity" into building their own houses and the homes of fellow Partner Families. In addition, they save a down payment, take classes in financial management and planning, and learn about the responsibilities of home ownership before they can purchase their homes.

Partner Families purchase their Habitat homes at cost (no profit to Habitat) and have a no-interest mortgage. Because there are no labor costs, no profits for the builders and no interest, most Partner Families pay less per month for their Habitat home than they may have paid in rent for a substandard dwelling.

Why do we need habitat in our area?

While this region is home for some of our nation's wealthiest individuals, more than 3,000 homes in the area qualify as "substandard" according to the Albemarle County Housing Advisory Committee. More than half of these homes are owned or occupied by low-income families that are unable to afford repairs. Many of these dwellings lack indoor plumbing. Most have poor insulation, so they aren't well heated. Rotting roofs and floors make them unsafe.

In addition, because Central Virginia is a desirable place to live, housing and land costs have risen dramatically in the last decade.  Since 2001, the cost for a buildable lot in the city of Charlottesville has risen from $14,000 to more than $70,000.  In Albemarle County, the comparable prices were $13,000 and $60,000, respectively. This fact alone makes building affordable housing prohibitively expensive, using the model of one lot, one house.

How Habitat homes are financed

Habitat Partner Families purchase their homes with an interest-free mortgage, funded by the donors and the labor of Partner Families and volunteers. The interest-free first mortgage is usually between $110,000 and $130,000. The homes are usually worth $180,000 to $270,000 and that total value is covered by deferred mortgages.

• For example, a home worth $200,000, with a $130,000 interest-free first mortgage would also have a deferred interest-free mortgage for $70,000, which would not be due until the family resells the home.

In addition, Habitat has appreciation sharing agreements with the Partner Families. The first time a Habitat homeowner resells a house outside the family, Habitat gets half of the appreciation in value. These mechanisms are designed to help low-income partner families become homeowners and to protect the investment in affordable housing for generations.

Want more information?

The Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville Newsletter: Fall 2009

Check out the Habitat for Humanity International page for more background.

Visit Habitat Women Build.

Visit Habitat Youth United.

University of Virginia students might also want to check out HFH@UVA