The County's Voluntary Housing Buyout Program (VHBP) will purchase eligible properties affected by the 2018 eruption.

The buyout application process is divided into the following three phases. For more information, visit the Housing Buyout Program page. The VHBP program is no longer accepting applications.

• Phase 1: Primary residences
  • Applications accepted from April 30, 2021, through July 30, 2021.

• Phase 2: Secondary residences (including long-term rental properties)
  • Applications accepted from Nov. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2022.

• Phase 3: Undeveloped properties
  • Applications accepted from July 18, 2022, through October 31, 2022.

Eligible properties include those that were inundated or isolated by lava, suffered physical damage (including from fires and wildfires caused by lava), or have been physically impacted by secondary effects, including heat and gases at their property.

Additional threshold factors to determine eligibility for the VHBP include:

• All applicants must have owned their property prior to the 2018 Kīlauea eruption and must currently own their property. Applicants must be able to demonstrate clear ownership of the property.
• Applicants qualifying their property as a primary home must provide proof that they resided in the structure at the time of the disaster as a primary home.
• Applicant must be current on property taxes or current on an approved payment plan (including exemptions under current law). Any remaining liens on the property will be cleared at closing, including any liens and outstanding homeowner association (HOA) dues.
• Property qualifying as a primary or second home must have had an eligible structure prior to the disaster. Eligible structures for the VHBP must have served as dwelling units. Structures do not have to have been permitted prior to the eruption to be eligible for this program.

Applicants applying for disaster assistance, through the VHBP, will be processed according to the following phases and priorities. Late applications will be processed during subsequent phases. A weighting, or point system, will also be implemented to assist in the ranking of properties to be acquired. It is important to note that the application period has ended and the VHBP is no longer accepting applications.

Phase 1 -- Primary Residences

• Applications accepted from April 30, 2021, through July 30, 2021.

Phase 2 -- Secondary Residences

• Applications accepted from Nov. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2022.

Phase 3 -- Undeveloped Properties

• Applications accepted from July 18, 2022, through October 31, 2022.

Phasing is based on use at the time of the eruption. 

Within each phase, applications will be prioritized based on the following criteria: 

Low- to Moderate-Income (LMI) Households 

Hawai‘i County will prioritize LMI applicants over non-LMI applicants. HUD requires that at least 70% of program funding must serve LMI households. LMI eligibility will be specific to each qualifying household and based on verification of each applicant’s household income.  

Damage Status 

Damage for properties will also be given different levels for prioritization. Properties with significant inundation or isolation will be the largest weight in the point system, followed by properties with significant damage, and then partial damage.  

Road Access 

The County will rank properties without road access to be restored over those with road access to be restored. 

Household are considered low- to moderate-income (LMI) if the household income is 80% or less of the area median income. The chart below identified the maximum amount a household can earn to qualify as LMI based on household size. These income levels are updated each year.

Phase 3 included primary and secondary homes, long-term rentals, and the newest addition of undeveloped properties. The VHBP is no longer accepting applications.

If the property served as a full-time vacation rental and the owner did not reside on the property for any portion of the year, then the property would not qualify. In this circumstance, the vacation rental would be considered a business. Businesses are not eligible for the Voluntary Housing Buyout Program.

Properties that were used as short-term rentals may qualify if:

• The owner used the property as a primary residence.
• The owner resided on the property for the greater of:
  • 14 days a year, or
  • more than 10% of the total days the property is rented.

Completion of sale is anticipated to take nine months to a year following the intake appointment with VHBP staff. 

Buyout offers will be based on the pre-disaster (2017) Real Property Tax appraised total market value of the property (land and structures) with a limit of $230,000 for primary, $142,000 for secondary homes/long term rentals, and $22,000 for undeveloped properties. To review the appraised market values, visit www.hawaiipropertytax.com.

Following release of the draft Initial Community Development Block Grant Disaster-Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan, the recovery team worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to clarify the application of duplication of benefits for the VHBP. HUD has confirmed the following will not count as duplicative, meaning receiving these forms of assistance won’t reduce buyout grant amounts:  

• Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance for rental assistance, home repairs, or housing replacement; 
• U.S. Small Business Administration loans for home repairs, housing reconstruction, housing relocation, or other approved purposes; 
• Private insurance payouts for loss of structure and/or contents;
• Private sources such as grants for home repairs or in-kind assistance.  

'Necessary and Reasonable' 

The County must conduct an individualized review of each applicant to determine that the amount of assistance the applicant is eligible for will not cause a duplication of benefits by exceeding the unmet needs of that applicant. Even if no duplication of benefits is identified, program costs and grant awards must abide by cost principles and are required to be “necessary and reasonable.” Applicants are required to provide information on all sources of disaster recovery assistance to help determine whether any assistance may be duplicative and that CDBG-DR assistance is necessary and reasonable.

For example, if an applicant has unspent funds that were received for disaster recovery assistance, or if those funds were not used for their intended purpose, then deductions for a duplication of benefits may apply.   

The County understands that applicant benefits can be a moving target with additional funds received much later than initial payouts or due to appeals and litigation. Further, all funding sources may not be known at the time of application.

Yes, to be eligible for a buyout, an applicant must have owned the property prior to the eruption and still own the property. 

Properties that meet the criteria for the voluntary housing buyout program would be eligible for a buyout even if the home on the property may not have been permitted. During the intake and application process, we will assess with the applicants whether a home existed before the eruption and the applicant would need to demonstrate that it was being used as a residence at the time to be considered a primary dwelling.  

If structures or other improvements (such as utilities and driveways) remain on the property, they will be demolished after being purchased.

The County may continue to manage these properties or can explore opportunities where appropriate to provide access agreements to former owners while maintaining the compatible open space uses; to preserve sites of cultural significance; to provide for maintenance agreements; to transfer title to a community association or land stewardship group for the maintenance and use of these properties in a way that is compatible with open space uses; or to lease lands for agricultural uses that are productive in the eruption areas and require a minimal investment in crops or infrastructure that could be lost to a future eruption. Responsible management of these properties is critical to the long-term recovery of communities impacted by the 2018 Kīlauea eruption.