Controversy has enveloped a program intended to help families buy homes in student neighborhoods by providing the new homeowners with financial assistance. Students in the affected neighborhoods said they are being discriminated against.

Housing for Sustainable Neighborhoods is a non-profit organization designed to connect buyers and sellers in neighborhoods near campus.

“It’s a neighborhood effort to stabilize neighborhoods so there’s balance between student and non-student housing,” said Pat Brown, president of Housing for Sustainable Neighborhoods.

The program provides financial assistance to buyers who want to purchase a family home — but as a condition of the contract, a buyer must reside in the home and cannot turn it into rental property for 20 years.

“What it’s asking is for those people who are interested in helping create neighborhoods, that they sell to someone who plans to live in the house,” Brown said.

Brown said she believes young families are being discriminated against because they cannot afford to compete for homes with landlords or investors. She said program administrators hope to work with real estate agents to make sure buyers are aware of what properties are for sale.

“These houses come up for sale; they’re not put on the open market,” Brown said.

“The real estate people have a list of investors and they’re sold, without ever being advertised. And so, the real victims of discrimination are these families and non-students.”

Brown said the community is 100 percent supportive.

“They are concerned about deteriorating neighborhoods,” she said. “They don’t want slum housing around the university.”

Andrew Tugan, ex-officio student member of the Ames City Council, said he has from the beginning taken issue with the program.

“My concerns stem not so much from the program itself, but the city’s interaction with the program and the city supporting the program,” Tugan said.

“Since students don’t buy homes very often, it’s discouraging students from moving into the area, which is a message that there doesn’t seem any reason that it needs to be sent.”

Tugan said he is a part of several committees working to improve community and student relations and that he feels this program is working against goals that have been encouraged by the city.

“It’s some assistance, but not enough to really consider to be lower-cost housing, which makes me more concerned that the idea behind the program is to prevent the houses from becoming rental properties,” Tugan said.

Tugan said he believes the program is a good idea, when looked at from an affordable housing perspective, but that the conditions attached to the program change the dynamic of its content.

“The major intent of the program is to prevent rental housing from spreading rather than to encourage home ownership,” Tugan said.

Brown, however, disagreed with Tugan about the intent of the program.

“The discrimination is against young families that can’t even have access of being able to bid on a house because they’re gone before they even hit the open market,” Brown said.

She said the program isn’t designed to kick out renters or landlords.

“Landlords are going to continue to buy and invest in property, and students are going to continue to rent and invest in property,” Brown said. “Neighborhoods are your source of community support. Neighborhoods should be working with students to make them feel welcome here; they should be part of families.”

Ames City Councilman Steve Goodhue has expressed interest in the program.

“I think this is a great program,” Goodhue said.

“I think this is a good effort on our behalf to reach out to sustain some of those neighborhoods that we know need to be kept from further deterioration. It’s a great effort from an affordable housing perspective.”

Goodhue said one of his concerns is that the program is restricted to certain parts of the community.

“My preference would be that this not be specified as a certain area of the community only, and that we try to reach out a response to every resident and every property owner,” Goodhue said.

Brown said Housing for Sustainable Neighborhoods could expand to a citywide program, but it would need more funding and experience to do so.

In February, the council allocated a grant of $25,000 to the Housing for Sustainable Neighborhoods program, subject to a detailed description of the program and the use for the money.

Brown will be presenting the description at the council’s Sept. 28 meeting, at which time council members will have the opportunity to ask questions before deciding whether to approve the guidelines.