Reps. White and Young Push Bill to Increase Opportunity for Single-Family Home Ownership

COLUMBUS, OH - State Representatives Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Tom Young (R-Washington Township) last week provided sponsor testimony before the Ohio House Development Committee on new legislation to help more families have the opportunity for home ownership through a revamp of Ohio's Single-Family Tax Credit Program.

"Too many Ohioans are being priced out of the dream of owning their home and building generational wealth," said Rep. White. "House Bill 765 renovates an existing program so it can function in the real-world housing market, attract more private investment, and help more families find a place to call home."

"HB 765 modernizes Ohio's Single-Family Tax Credit Program to make it more marketable to investors, financeable for builders and effective at delivering affordable housing for working families," said Rep. Young. "If we build it, they will come!"

Stubborn elevated mortgage interest rates coupled with limited inventory and skyrocketing property values have left many trapped in rental properties - if they can even find a place to rent - well beyond the norm of recent years. The average age for a first-time homebuyer in the United States is now a record high of 40 years old, up from 33 in 2020 and compared to the late 20's in the 1980's according to the National Association of Realtors 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

The Single-Family Tax Credit Program, created in the 134th General Assembly in 2023, was designed to encourage public-private partnerships to build or rehabilitate affordable single-family homes for Ohio's workforce. Despite $50 million annually being appropriated for the program for four years starting in July of 2023, no funds have yet been utilized and only a handful of projects are in the pipeline.

"What we wanted to happen with this program can happen, we just need to renovate the program so that it attracts investors and industry partners to move earth and help more Ohioans find their way to a home," said Rep. White.

"HB 765 keeps the original mission of increasing affordable homeownership intact, but restructures the program so it attracts more public-private investment in attainable single-family homes," said Rep. Young.

Key provisions of the legislation designed to attract more public-private investment in single-family home ownership include:

• Helping builders improve cash flow by allowing tax credits to be certified as soon as individual homes are completed, rather than waiting for an entire project or subdivision to finish;
• Making it more attractive for investors to buy the tax credits by allowing the credits to be transferred and quickly used as they are purchased to offset eligible taxes by banks, insurers or other investors rather than having to wait 10 years to apply the full credit.
• Tying tax credits to affordability and appraisal gaps in house pricing to help projects move forward in challenging markets. HB 765 does this by tying the final credit amount to the lesser of 35% of development cost or the amount necessary to fill the affordability gap or appraisal gap to create more certainty and predictability.
• Reducing Long-Term Liability Concerns by strengthening the role of the Ohio Housing Financing Authority in handling compliance paperwork and enforcing affordability rules to address long-term compliance risks.
• Shortens the Affordability Restriction from 10 to seven years that the residence must be owned by a person whose monthly income is not more than 30 percent of the sale price of the home if the property is sold within that timeframe. This helps ensure the property receiving a state tax credit remains affordable so more Ohioans can benefit.

The bill awaits its next hearing in the House Development Committee, expected in early June.