County Council approves nonprofit leases for six affordable homes on Big Island

Hawaii County Council approved a plan to lease six county-owned homes to nonprofits, turning a $6.4 million public purchase into six long-term housing slots for residents facing the steepest barriers to stable shelter.

Resolution 425-26 lets the county Director of Finance negotiate leases at $10 a year per property. The initial term runs from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027, with four one-year renewal options, a structure that keeps the county in control while the homes are used for permanent housing.

The Office of Housing and Community Development bought eight single-family homes last fall with Emergency Rental Assistance 2 money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds that had to be spent by Sept. 30, 2025. One home later dropped out when a lessee backed out, and another was found not livable, leaving six properties in the final plan.

Those homes are in Kona Palisades, Kona Chocho Estates, Hawaiian Paradise Park, Kealakekua, Waiākea Homestead Houselots and Orchidland. Public coverage identified the intended nonprofit partners as Hale Kipa, Mental Health Kōkua, HOPE Services Hawaii and Big Island Substance Abuse Council. The county said each site is meant to include support services and serve tenants and qualifying households earning at or below 50% of area median income.

The leases are supposed to last six months or longer, which county officials say makes the homes count as long-term affordable housing under the federal rules attached to the purchase. OHCD will keep managing the properties under county, state and federal requirements, a setup that makes the program more than a simple property transfer and places the county on the hook for compliance and oversight.

The resolution reached the council only after a rough committee process. In March, the Finance Committee tabled the proposal after Waiākea Uka and Makani Circle residents objected to the county’s plan for 76 Makani Circle in Hilo, raising transparency concerns and warning the home could become revolving-door housing rather than a stable placement. Going Home Hawaii withdrew from that property after the backlash. The committee later advanced the measure on a 7-2 vote on April 9.

The result is a six-home pipeline that will be judged less by the announcement than by how fast the leases are signed, which residents are placed first and whether the homes stay occupied as permanent housing instead of cycling through another short-lived promise.