Affordable Housing

As our community continues to grow, the City of Denton is committed to ensuring a balanced mix of housing types and opportunities are available to community members at different income levels. The City has prioritized supporting affordable housing as outlined in the Denton Affordable Housing Strategic Toolkit, as well as other strategic planning documents, such as the Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development and Denton Plan 2040.

City Council adopted Denton’s Affordable Housing Strategic Toolkit on February 15, 2022 (ID 22-090). The toolkit outlines five recommended strategies with targeted activities to deliver housing interventions.

Community Services and City Council are working to develop and implement the targeted activities within the toolkit. To stay up to date on our progress, sign up for our newsletter.

On the housing continuum, affordable housing initiatives and the Denton Affordable Housing Strategic Toolkit address the needs of supportive housing through market home ownership. This includes subsidized and naturally occurring affordable rental housing as well as affordable home ownership.

For more information on homelessness and emergency shelter which is not covered under affordable housing, see the Homeless Initiatives page.

1. Infill Development
2. Zoning Relief & Variances
3. Increase Capacity & Resources
4. Preservation & Expansion
5. Increase Access to Information

Infill development refers to the construction of new buildings on vacant or underutilized land in developed areas of the City.

Targeted Activity	Action to Implement
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program	Develop financing models, relationships with contractors, and guidelines for the ADU program including requirements from a land use and zoning perspective to expand the program.
Small Home Community Program	Create guidelines and regulations that will enable the private market and non-profit partners to develop housing for households earning less than 80% of AMI with less subsidy than traditional homes.

Targeted Activity	Action to Implement
Affordable Housing Overlay District	Create affordable housing overlay districts with the Developer Incentive Package zoning relief/variance options for developers interested in building or substantially rehabilitating homes priced affordably for low- and moderate- income households.
Marketing and Outreach to Development Community	Develop tools to reach out to specific target audiences like the development community, including national non-profit developers with experience in mixed-income, mixed-use development, developers experienced in infill development, and national non-profits that may serve as a supportive services partner.

Targeted Activity	Action to Implement
Non-profit Capacity Building Grant	Provide funding to non-profit developers to increase their capacity for affordable housing development. May include funding for grant writing, pre-development costs, technical assistance, and/or site control.
Developer Incentive Package	Create a package of incentives that developers may select from to promote affordable housing while serving the City's specific needs regarding housing inventory, current environment, community investment, and budget.
Pre-Development Financing Program	Provide pre-development capital to finance the start of low-income housing projects through a revolving loan fund to encourage and empower small developers and non-profits.
Low-Income Homeownership Program	Create a model for homeownership catering to families earning less than 50% of AMI, in partnership with the Housing Authority using a combination of Housing Choice Vouchers, low-cost construction methods, down payment assistance, and favorable lending terms.

Targeted Activity	Action to Implement
Housing Trust Incentive Program	Provide technical assistance and grant funding to non-profits interested in creating a housing trust, a legal mechanism that preserves long-term affordability for homes rehabbed or newly constructed for low- and moderate-income homeownership.
Rental Repair Grant	The City of Denton provides programs to assist low- and moderate-income homeowners living within Denton city limits who cannot afford to complete major and minor repairs that, if left unattended, would jeopardize the health and safety of occupants. View more details and start the application process on the Homeowner Repair Assistance page.
Employee Homeownership Program	Create a home loan and down payment assistance program for City of Denton employees (potentially in partnership with other programs) that may include counseling services and partnership with a developer for the infill housing program.
Down Payment Assistance Program	The City of Denton helps low- and moderate-income families with the down payment assistance and closing costs to buy their first home. Assistance is in the form of a forgivable loan at 0% interest for five years. View more details and start the application process on the Home Buyer Assistance page.
Land Banking	Through the public housing authority, partner non-profit, or newly created quasi-governmental development arm, acquire or obtain site control for vacant lots and underutilized buildings for affordable housing development.

Targeted Activity	Action to Implement
Landlord/Tenant Eviction Prevention Program & Education Campaign	Create instructional documents, policy, outreach, and training assistance for Denton landlords to deter eviction; provide grant funding for non-profit eviction prevention services.
Interactive Mapping Tool	Create an interactive web portal to identify underutilized parcels, buildings, and/or opportunity that may be available for repurpose to be used in conjunction with zoning overlays, land banking, and other steps in the process.
Denton Housing Authority Landlord Education Program for Housing Choice Vouchers	Work with the public housing authority to develop a Housing Choice Voucher Program education campaign and online training modules to increase Housing Choice Voucher usage in Areas of Opportunity.

Affordable Housing

Toolkit: Five Strategies and Targeted Activities

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