Don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your work in affordable housing or to nominate another property or body of work for its excellence in affordable housing. The 37th annual Housing North Carolina Awards will celebrate the best affordable housing in the state—housing that improves the lives of residents and their communities.
Categories
Recognition will be given in the following categories: Innovation in Housing, Excellence in Sustainability, Creative Partnerships and Community Impact. Any property type or body of work can be entered for consideration in any of the categories.
Innovation in Housing will award properties or bodies of work for innovation in design, construction or financing strategies.
Excellence in Sustainability will recognize properties or bodies of work that demonstrate sustainability through financial resilience, energy efficiency or addressing aging demographics.
Creative Partnerships will award properties or bodies of work that leverage unique partnerships, e.g., strong community involvement or uncommon investors.
Community Impact will award properties or bodies of work that have a substantial impact on their surrounding communities.
Winners will be awarded plaques, and are invited to participate in a special panel at the NC Affordable Housing Conference on October 22 in Raleigh, NC. In addition, the winners will be announced to the local news media.
Who Should Enter?
- Private developers
- Nonprofit housing sponsors
- City and county governments
- Lead regional agencies
How to Enter
Those interested in entering a property or body of work for consideration for the 2026 Housing North Carolina Awards can utilize the online submission portal, available at 8:00 am on Wednesday, April 1. The application portal will close at 5:00 pm on Friday, May 1.
Threshold Qualifications for Entering
Properties and bodies of work do not need to use financing from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to be eligible. For properties or bodies of work with Agency funding, all loans must be closed and fully disbursed.
The threshold qualifications for all award categories (by type of housing) are:
Home Ownership
- Subdivisions and scattered-site developments of new construction or rehab (at least $15,000 per home), stick-built or pre-fabricated, single-family or condominiums.
- At least four (4) homes or 75% of planned units (whichever is greater) with eligible sales prices not exceeding $250,000 that are completed, sold and occupied.
- Certificate of occupancy issued between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026 for at least one (1) home.
- Located in North Carolina.
Rental Housing
- Affordable developments produced by new construction or rehab (at least $25,000 per unit).
- Rental housing units affordable to households at or below 80% of county median income, or 80% of the median for the state’s non-metropolitan counties, whichever is greater.
- Certificate of occupancy issued between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026.
- Form 8609 issued for all properties financed with federal Housing Credits.
- Located in North Carolina.
Supportive Housing Production
- Emergency, transitional or permanent housing that provides services (project-based or program-based) for people with special needs. These include people experiencing homelessness or imminently at risk of homelessness; survivors of domestic violence; people with mental, physical or developmental disabilities; people living with substance abuse disorder; youth aging out of foster care; adults re-entering the community after being released from correctional facilities; survivors of human trafficking; or veterans.
- At least four (4) units for individuals at or below 50% of area median income.
- Certificate of occupancy issued between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026.
- Located in North Carolina.