Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Self-Help Homes allows families to build affordable homes through community effort and training.
- Participants, like Hailey and Matt Deeds, work 35 hours weekly on their homes and neighbors'.
- The program reduces home costs by 10%-20% and targets low-income families in Utah.
NEPHI — Hailey Deeds' daily routine looks a little different from that of most 24-year-olds. After a full day of juggling working from home with caring for her infant daughter, she drives 45 minutes to Nephi to meet her husband, Matt, where they are building their home.
Neither Hailey nor Matt has ever built a house before, but their home is looking fantastic — when we spoke, the concrete driveway was just poured, carpet had been laid and the toilets and other fixtures had all been installed. All that was left were minor details like outlet covers and lightbulbs.
The Deeds family is part of a program called Self-Help Homes, which completes affordable housing projects by facilitating loans and providing training so people can build their own houses. For nearly a year, they have driven back and forth between Nephi and Lehi almost daily to spend 35 hours per week building their home: framing the walls, installing baseboards, painting the interior and completing thousands of other tasks.
Hailey and Matt don't just work on their own house — they also contribute time to build their neighbors' homes. Self-Help Homes is a community effort, with each unit in the program assigned to a group of about 8–10 other families and individuals. The groups work together, starting their block from the ground up, and no one moves into their home until each house in the group has been completed.
"It does take a village," Hailey said. "If anything, that's what building a house and having a kid has taught me. You can't do anything without people in your corner."
Katie Bunker and her husband, Dallin, are in the same group as the Deeds family, and the Bunkers' house will be the last to be completed. It's framed, but they're waiting on contractors to complete the more technical aspects of the home like plumbing, HVAC and electrical work. Once that is done, the Bunkers and the other families in the program will work to complete everything else.
Lots in the program typically range from .17 to .25 of an acre, and house sizes vary accordingly. Each of the houses in this group have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus an unfinished basement — although the families now have the skills and construction experience to finish it themselves.
Their group started construction in December 2023. Since then, the program has consistently dropped off new building materials at the site, and the group's supervisor has walked everyone through new tasks, providing training and maintaining a building plan. Although these are not custom homes, there are several house plans people can choose from when building through the program, and participants can choose finishes like flooring, countertops, cabinets and paint colors.
As soon as the houses are completed, all seven families in their group will move into their new homes.
How Self-Help Homes got its start
Self-Help Homes is one of several similar programs across the country. Although each state is required to have an affordable housing program, not every state has the kind where you receive help to build a house yourself. According to Self-Help Housing Spotlight, these programs are available in 30 states, plus the Marshall Islands. Utah alone has nine different programs, including Self-Help Homes.
Each state in the country receives funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Known as the HOME program, this money is specifically allocated for affordable housing programs. According to HUD Exchange, at least 15% of all HOME funds must be set aside for use in a Community Housing Development Organization, which is a private housing program that serves local community needs.
In 1999, the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development was looking to grow its Mutual Self-Help Housing program, which provides grants to nonprofits that carry out self-help construction programs in rural areas. Two community housing organizations had just started in Utah — one in Moab, the other in Vernal — but central Utah had no such organizations.
Brad Bishop, who was working at the Housing Authority of Utah County, was asked to start a similar nonprofit in Utah County. He helped found Self-Help Homes, which began using the unused HOME funds to purchase and develop land for single-family homes in 2000. The Mutual Self-Help Housing program provides funding for technical support and supervision to families building on those lots, and Self-Help Homes helps participants apply for USDA housing loans for their mortgages.
Since its founding, Self-Help Homes has built houses in Washington, Juab and Wasatch counties. Even before the pandemic, Bishop said their demand had been steadily growing, but since 2020, their waitlists have grown increasingly long.
"The demand is higher than we've ever seen," Bishop said. "Those who are coming on to the program have been on the list for a couple of years."
How to apply for the program
To be eligible for the program, you must meet certain income requirements and cannot currently own a home. The Deedses are renting a basement from a family member and the Bunkers are renting an apartment, and Deeds said one family in their group currently lives in a trailer.
Wait times can vary based on applicants' income. By law, participants in a self-help building program must earn less than 80% of their area's median income. Bishop said at least 40% of those they serve must have an income that is 50% or less of the area's median, so applicants in that range are generally able to apply to the program consistently and are likely to be accepted sooner.
Building any home is expensive, but Self-Help Homes is able to shave off around 10%-20% of the average home price through participants' sweat equity and by avoiding builders' markups.
