A new partnership in Newport is working to help income-eligible homeowners make critical repairs so they can safely stay in their homes.
The Newport City Commission voted on March 9 to approve a pilot partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati and ReNewport, a citizen-driven, nonprofit community development organization, to provide home repairs for income-eligible homeowners, focusing on West Newport. The program would address health, safety and structural issues in owner-occupied homes while helping preserve existing housing and improve neighborhood conditions.
The city will provide $25,000 in funding, matched by $25,000 from Habitat for Humanity and $25,000 from ReNewport, creating a total program budget of $75,000.
“This is for our residents,” Newport Vice Mayor Julie Smith-Morrow said. “This is for the people that have said, ‘I want to do these things to my house. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to do it. I’m afraid that I’ll have to do it or I’ll lose my home.’ This is for them, and it’s a really big deal.”
Program details include:
- Provide critical home repairs to eligible homeowners
- Focus primarily on exterior repairs and building issues
- Assist households earning 80% of the area median income or below
- Limit project costs to $10,000 per home with an average repair cost of approximately $7,500.
“We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we have longtime residents here that are elderly, that have fixed incomes,” said Newport City Manager John Hayden. “It’s easy to point a finger at somebody’s house and say, ‘Why aren’t they doing something with that?’ Because of age or physical ability or just income, they’re not able to do that. I think this helps level the playing field quite a bit.”
Habitat for Humanity first presented to the Newport Commission in February 2025 to explore what a partnership could look like, but efforts to develop a program began before then. The preference for Newport’s West End was designated due to the creation of the Buena Vista Historic District in May 2024. Shortly after the creation of that district, the commission voted to explore a residential facade program.
“This is something that when we went through the historic district process, this is something that was near and dear to some of us, me included, based on feedback,” Newport Commissioner Mike Radwanski said. “This type of program, I believe, is a perfect recipe for our residents to be in a place where they can live in a historic neighborhood and be successful, whilst at the same time solving a lot of issues that we see within income-aligned housing.”
A study of housing in Northern Kentucky has revealed troubling trends for housing in the region, with the largest need being for “workforce housing” for households earning between $15 and $25 per hour, with monthly housing costs between $500 and $1,500. The region needs about 3,000 more housing units to provide for people within that income range, according to the study. The demand for one- to two-bedroom rentals and owned properties consistently exceeds their supply, while supply for three and four-bedroom properties consistently exceeds demand. The study suggests that the region needs to build 6,650 housing units to support economic development in the next five years, which equates to 1,330 units per year. Read more here.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
Newport Commissioner Aaron Sutherland said that Newport has many houses over 100 years old. He said there might be one house on a street that has been rehabbed in the last five years, one that’s been rehabbed in the last 10 years, and then the next one hasn’t had any attention for 30 or 40 years.
“Folks that may not be able to afford to make these repairs on their houses, maybe they’re getting in trouble with the code department, this may be an avenue for them to make the repairs, stay off codes radar,” Sutherland said.
ReNewport Board President Gordon Henry emphasized that the program is a grant, not a loan.
“This will not be a loan that our residents have to pay to saddle low-income folks with additional debt,” he said.
