Apply for a Habitat house
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Habitat homeowner. We believe that everyone should have a safe, affordable place to call home.
To carry out our vision, we partner with individuals and families from application through construction to when the keys are handed over.
By working with us from beginning to end, we can help prospective individuals prepare for the various responsibilities of homeownership, including learning about personal finances, mortgages, maintenance and upkeep of homes, and much more.
Habitat’s path to homeownership is an important and in-depth process, requiring hard work, time and dedication. But this helps to ensure the long-term success of Habitat homeowners.
How to qualify for a Habitat home
Habitat homeowners must be active participants in building a better home and future for themselves and their families. Every Habitat home is an investment. For us, it is one answer to a critical need, and we believe that stronger homes will create stronger communities.
- Prospective Habitat homeowners must demonstrate a need for safe, affordable housing. Need will vary from community to community.
- Prospective households are low to moderate income. In the U.S., we serve families whose income does not exceed 60% of the area median income as defined for the area by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homeowner eligibility and selection take place at the local level and it can vary from community to community.
- Once selected, Habitat homeowners must partner with us throughout the process. This partnership includes performing “sweat equity,” or helping to build their own home or the homes of others in our homeownership program. Sweat equity can also include taking homeownership classes or performing volunteer work in a Habitat ReStore.
- Homeowners must also be able and willing to pay an affordable mortgage. Habitat makes a reasonable effort to ensure that an affordable mortgage does not exceed 30% of the homeowner’s gross monthly income. Mortgage payments are cycled back into the community to help build additional Habitat houses.
Can anyone apply to be a Habitat homeowner?
Yes. Habitat follows a nondiscriminatory policy of homebuyer selection. Neither race nor religion is a factor.
How do you apply for a Habitat house? How long is the Habitat for Humanity home application process?
Habitat’s homeowner selection is managed at the local level, through our hundreds of local Habitat for Humanity locations all over the U.S. and around the world. For more information and to learn more about the process or how you can apply, please contact your local Habitat, or call 1-800-HABITAT (1-800-422-4828).
