KEYSTONE — Summit County is expanding its Housing Helps program to unincorporated areas of Snake River, Lower Blue and Tenmile basins, according to a county news release. 

The Housing Helps program originally launched in the Upper Blue Basin in collaboration with the town of Breckenridge. The program aims to create, maintain and preserve homes for local workers. 

Under the program, homeowners and homebuyers are incentivized to place deed restrictions on existing homes so they can be owned by members of the local workforce. The county pays an owner 10% to 15% of the property’s current value to record a deed restriction on a market-rate home, according to the release. 

Whether a person is eligible for the program and the amount of money they received from the county depends on the market, the home’s location and its suitability as workforce housing, according to the release.

Homeowners and buyers can use the funds from the county for a down payment, home repairs, special assessments or any other purpose, according to the release. Recipients are then required to execute a permanent deed restriction that requires a local owner to occupy the home. 

People who are interested in the Housing Helps program can email housingdepartment@summitcountyco.gov or visit the Summit Combined Housing Authority website to receive more information about the application process.