Applications reopened for 'Buy Back the Block' homeowners assistance grants
The nonprofit Live Baltimore is reopening applications for its "Buy Back the Block" home purchase grant program.
The program provides grants to Baltimore City residents to assist them with upfront costs of buying a home.
In 2024, Live Baltimore awarded more than $750,000 to first-time homebuyers.
What is the Buy Back the Block program?
The Buy Back the Block program offers Baltimore City residents grants to assist in the cost of purchasing a home.
Eligible residents have two grant options: A $15,000 purchase grant and a $20,000 grant to purchase and renovate their new home.
To be eligible for the grant, residents must have lived in a grant-eligible area for at least 12 months and intend to purchase a home anywhere within the eligible area.
Grant recipients must complete homeownership counseling with an approved Baltimore City agency and work with a Live Baltimore-approved lender.
You can learn more about the grant, view the full eligibility criteria list, and view a searchable map of grant-eligible areas on the Live Baltimore Website.
Improving access to homeownership
Live Baltimore says its program, which is designed to prevent resident displacement and foster retention, promoted homeownership and neighborhood stability and fostered financial investment in Baltimore City's communities.
It comes at a time when Maryland residents are faced with rising costs of real estate.
In August, results from a study by researchers at the University of Maryland revealed that housing is becoming increasingly less affordable for residents, due to the rate of housing construction failing to keep pace with the projected rate of household growth.
Researchers said that more than half of Maryland renters spent at least a third of their income on housing.
A SmartAsset study done in 2024 found that the average single adult living in Baltimore requires a nearly $90,000 salary, or an hourly wage of $40.86, to live comfortably.
The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Maryland sits at a hefty $1,909, and $1,608 for a one-bedroom, according to the report.
