By Amanda Raymond
amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Housing Authority has converted its public housing to multifamily housing as of Aug. 1.

According to a letter from Sam Foust, executive director of the Salisbury Housing Authority, the Department of Housing and Urban Development allows housing authorities to transfer their apartments from the Public Housing Division to the Multifamily Division.

Included in the required documents was a release of the Declaration of Trust, which protects the land and buildings, and a Restrictive Use Agreement that keeps the housing restricted to low-income, elderly and disabled people.

“With this conversion to multifamily housing, there is no longer any ‘public housing’ apartments in the city of Salisbury,” Foust wrote in the letter.

The Rowan County Housing Authority still operates under the Public Housing Division and the Section 8 program of HUD.

Foust wrote that the organization wanted to change over to the Multifamily program for two main reasons: the change ensures higher and more stable funding from HUD and it allows the housing authority to leverage its properties to get loans for apartment rehabilitation, something that is against Public Housing rules.

Foust said the conversion causes almost no change to current residents or those applying for housing through the housing authority. All current residents have to do is sign a new Multifamily Model Lease.

He said eligibility is still determined the same way and rent will still be 30 percent of adjust income in most cases.

Multifamily housing is stricter on college students to keep the housing from turning into college dormitories. For example, two full-time college students would not be eligible for the housing, but a working mother with a daughter who is a full-time college student would be eligible.

Foust said the housing residents will continue to be those with extremely low income, the elderly and disabled people.

“The Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the city of Salisbury and I firmly believe the conversion to Multifamily was indeed a wise decision which will enable us to continue the strong tradition of providing safe, sanitary and affordable housing to the needed citizens of Salisbury,” Foust wrote.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.