Funds Arrive to Rehab 15 Rental Homes

The Area Housing Authority of Ventura County has received a federal grant of $132,000 to rehabilitate 15 rental homes in western Ventura County.

The money is part of a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development project that helps provide affordable housing to low-income families through repairs to roofs, plumbing and heating systems and installation of energy-conservation equipment.

In the past year, the housing authority has used almost $700,000 in federal and local funds to rehabilitate more than 70 homes countywide, spokesman Sam Kent said.

The funds, which range from grants to loans of 6% or less, are available to landlords who rent to low-income families.

The housing authority also owns and operates 278 units of public housing and senior citizen housing in Thousand Oaks, Ojai, Meiners Oaks and Camarillo, and subsidizes housing for more than 1,100 households in the county, Kent said.