Nashville.gov

Home Buyout Program

The Stormwater floodplain buyout program is also another example of a program within Metro that is providing a benefit to water quality. The primary objectives of the Home Buyout Program are to: 1) assess residential, floodplain properties on the FEMA repetitive loss list for buyout, and 2) evaluate areas that repetitively flood, not located in the floodplain that could be considered for buyout. This program utilizes funds allotted from the Capitol Improvement budget and matching FEMA funds to purchase residential properties that qualify. To qualify, an application for the property or area must be submitted to FEMA for review and processing. Once a property qualifies for buyout, the property is purchased, the house and/or structure are carefully demolished, and the property is established as open space. In total, 52 homes have been purchased and all but 4 have been demolished. Removal of the homes not only adds storage capacity to the floodplain, but increases the riparian habitat for streams.