Home Repairs

Maintain Your Most Important Investment - Your Home!

HDA carpenters have completed 900 home repairs throughout our area. In the counties we serve in East Kentucky (Breathitt, Knott, Leslie, and Perry), many houses are aging, in need of updated sources of heating and cooling, and/or are not safe and accessible for those who live there. We remedy those problems by making home repairs and home rehabilitations at an affordable price for the homeowner.

Many of the homeowners we’ve helped are elderly, disabled, live alone, and/or are Veterans. Our program helps income-eligible low-income homeowners get the home repairs they need – repairs that would be difficult for them to make physically or afford without our assistance. While improving the home’s quality, our repairs also allow the homeowner(s) to continue living independently in their own home.

If you qualify for our program ...

We help you get the money to finance the repairs, and then, our carpenters do the work!

What To Expect

After submitting the online Get Started and/or the Home Repair Intake form, please be patient as our Home Repair Program staff evaluates your application and prepares to contact you.

Check your postal mail, email, or phone. We will be reaching out within a few days. Be sure to respond to our communications in a timely manner, because we receive a substantial amount of requests each week and move clients forward in the process as the client responds.
Once you've heard from us, be sure to schedule an intake meeting (the meeting can be conducted in-person or by phone) by calling 606-436-0497.
Gather your documents. Once all documentation has been provided, it will be reviewed and we will contact you within a few weeks in order to schedule a home visit. Click here to download the Client Document Checklist.
Once your intake form & documents are submitted, the review process can take a few weeks or more. Following the home visit, our staff will produce a repair estimate and complete your application. You will be notified as to the outcome of your application and, pending approval, the timeline of your repair project.

Types of Repairs

Inside or outside, our carpenters may be able to make the improvements your home needs. It doesn’t matter whether your home is a stick-built house or a trailer home – our crews make repairs for any low-income homeowner who qualifies for our program. Whether you’re looking to grow old comfortably in your home or make it a better, healthier space for you and your family, HDA is here to make the home repairs you need at a cost that’s affordable for you!

Home Rehabs

Our crews perform home rehabilitations on houses that require two or more major projects, involving repairs such as roof replacement, bathroom replacement, and installing new doors and windows.

Critical Repairs

We improve homes by replacing roofs, installing new flooring and siding, replacing windows and doors, repairing/adding porches and steps, making plumbing repairs, and making energy efficient upgrades.

Accessibility Repairs

HDA carpenters make your home safer and more secure by building wheelchair ramps, porches, widening doorways, installing grab bars, and modifying kitchens and bathrooms.

What is Home Rehabilitation? Home rehab allows homeowners who might not otherwise be able to afford necessary repairs to maintain a safe and healthy living environment. Owners can use these funds to bring a property up to code, tend to electricity or plumbing issues, repair the roof and floor, or make upgrades that enhance the home’s energy efficiency or accessibility. Home rehabilitations can help prevent the displacement of low-income households who otherwise may struggle to keep their home in livable condition.

How to Qualify

Our program uses funds from many sources, each having its own set of guidelines and requirements. Most of our clients receive a combination of loans and grants to finance the repairs on their home.

Our Basic Requirement

The home must be owner-occupied. That means we can’t help people repair a home to move into or help set up a mobile home. The home must be yours, and you must live in it.

Other Requirements:

Income

We calculate your annual income to see which of our funding sources you may be income-eligible for. There is no bottom income limit, but each program has a top income limit based on family size. These limits increase periodically. We are currently piloting an "open market" repair program for households that fall above the guidelines for all of our "income-based" programs.

Notes About Income Eligibility

The Housing Development Alliance administers a variety of repair programs, each with different income eligibility requirements.

Each household will need to have some income that can be verified. (Income could be as low as $256 per month, or even lower – it just has to be verified that it is being received.)

The least restrictive program we regularly use has these maximum limits based on gross monthly income:

1 to 4 Person Household – $3,291 per month
5 to 8 Person Household – $4,375 per month
Both programs can lend up to $7,500 before a mortgage is required.

Along with income requirements, there are additional eligibility requirements for HDA’s Home Repair Program. Also, some of our programs even offer deductions that can help you become eligible! If you are close to an income limit, please contact us to discuss these deductions.

Debts

Some of our programs look at how much money a household is already paying in other lines of credit. *This is only for loan options. This is done mainly to protect the client from future financial stress.

Credit

Each loan source has its own requirements. None of them require "perfect" credit, but may require the client to pay collections or charge-offs prior to application. We work with Redbud Financial Alternatives to provide financial counseling and other products to help clients get eligible. It often takes both loans and grants to complete all of the repairs.

Scope of Work

Each program has different requirements on what sort of repairs they will fund. Some programs will only fund emergency or accessibility repairs. Also, a few programs require that the home must be brought up to a certain standard in order for any work to be done.

See The Difference Our Work Makes

Click photos to enlarge.

Before Floor Replacement

This home had heavily flood-damaged carpeting and aging wood flooring underneath.

After Floor Replacement

New wood flooring, selected by the homeowner, was installed by HDA throughout the house.

Before New Steps

These aging steps and handrails had become dangerous for the homeowner.

After New Steps

HDA replaced the steps with a much sturdier, safer structure complete with a solid base.

Before Porch Repair

This concrete porch posed safety risks to the homeowner and made the home nearly inaccessible.

After Porch Repair

HDA made the porch much safer and the home more accessible for the homeowner by installing wooden railing and grab bars.

Before Roof Replacement

This home had worn, damaged shingling and inadequate tin roofing over the carport.

After Roof Replacement

HDA installed new 30-year shingles over the entire house and installed a new ridge vent over the top of the house.

Testimonials

I had a great experience working with the Housing Development Alliance. Unlike other places that make you feel bad or look down on you for seeking help, HDA was welcoming. They truly wanted to help me. Encouraging me to fill out an application, they worked hard to help me afford the repairs I needed. Without HDA I'm not sure I could have ever had all of this work done. I'm very grateful for their help.

Hulda Lewis

Home Repair Client

They almost had me in tears! It was one of the most pleasant experiences I’ve ever had, with all the adults and the young people who came here for five weeks in a row. (With everything I’ve been through over the last several years), my doctors started asking me if I ever think about (just giving up). I do get down sometimes, but I’m here today; and because of the repairs made to my home, I haven’t missed one dialysis appointment yet!

Tony Spicer

Home Repair Client (Veteran)