Town Officials Break Ground On Flanders Affordable Home

Southampton Town continued on its quest to provide affordable housing in Flanders recently.

The Southampton Housing Authority broke ground  on a Southampton Workforce Housing Program Lottery Home, located at 434 Flanders Boulevard South in Flanders, on Oct. 10.

The home is the third of 11 affordable dwellings being built throughout the Town of Southampton in partnership with the Long Island Housing Partnership. The universal designed Energy-star certified homes are being constructed by Manzi Construction.

In Sept., 2012, 11 people became new homeowners through Southampton Town's first-ever housing lottery for first-time home buyers.

According to Richard Blowes, the executive director and secretary of the Southampton Town Housing Authority, 55 people were originally in the lottery for the brand-new, three-bedroom homes, which the town acquired through the county through its 72-H program. 

Two of the homes are located in Noyac; two are sited in East Quogue, and the remaining seven are in the Riverside/Flanders area.

All of the individuals in the lottery were required to meet certain criteria in order to qualify, including income restrictions, ability to obtain a mortgage, and preferably, applicants must live or work within Southampton Town, Blowes said.

The homes will also remain affordable in perpetuity, with a clause in the mortgage agreement that only allows the owners of the home to re-sell them at a rate determined by the town's annual affordable median income level, he said.

The new owners will also be required to stay in the home for a period of time that has yet to be determined.