Texas Home Loans & Grants for Disabled Buyers (2026)

Buying a home on fixed disability income or finding a house that fits your accessibility needs can feel overwhelming when most mortgage advice assumes a traditional paycheck.

This 2026 guide explains how Texas home loans for disabled buyers work, including lender rules for SSDI and SSI income, TDHCA's Amy Young Barrier Removal Program, the $60,000 disabled-person property tax exemption, and statewide down payment assistance.

Check Your Texas Home Purchase Eligibility

You will see exactly what documentation lenders are allowed to ask for, which housing grants for disabled Texas residents help with buying versus modifying a home, and how to pair your loan with down payment help.

Buying a Home on Disability Income in Texas: Lender Rules

You do not need wage income to qualify for a mortgage in Texas. Under federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) rules, a creditor may not consider whether your income comes from a public assistance program, except as Regulation B permits. Both FHA loans and conventional loans that follow Fannie Mae guidelines count verified disability benefits as qualifying income.

FHA Rules for SSDI, SSI, and Disability Income

According to HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Update 18, issued August 12, 2026), disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), other public agencies, or private disability insurance policies count as effective income.

To verify Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for Texas FHA loan requirements, the lender collects your most recent Notice of Award (or an equivalent document) plus one of the following:

• Federal tax returns
• A recent bank statement showing the deposit
• An SSA benefits verification letter
• Form SSA-1099

FHA rules also include strong protections for borrowers with disabilities:

• No medical privacy intrusion: HUD's handbook states that under no circumstance may the lender inquire into or request documentation concerning the nature of the disability or the medical condition of the borrower.
• No expiration date means continuing income: Income scheduled to expire within three years cannot be used, but if your Notice of Award has no expiration date, the income is treated as continuing.
• Medical re-evaluations cannot be held against you: A lender may not rely on a pending or current re-evaluation of medical eligibility as evidence that your disability income will stop.
• Tax-free income gross-up: Nontaxable disability income may be "grossed up" (increased for qualifying calculations) by the greater of 15% or your actual tax rate, which helps lower your debt-to-income ratio.

Conventional (Fannie Mae) Disability Income Rules

Conventional loans following Fannie Mae guidelines (Selling Guide B3-3.4-15 and B3-3.4-09, updated in 2026) are similarly straightforward for disability home buying in Texas:

• Social Security disability or SSI (own account): When you draw SSA disability or retirement benefits on your own record, lenders are not required to verify 3-year continuance unless they have a specific reason to believe the income will stop. If you draw benefits on another person's account, 3-year continuance must be documented.
• Simple gross-up rule: For Social Security benefits, Fannie Mae allows lenders to treat 15% of the benefit as nontaxable and gross that portion up by 25% without requiring additional tax documentation.
• Private long-term disability: Requires a copy of the policy or benefits statement. Lenders do not have to verify continuance unless there is reason to doubt it, and a scheduled re-evaluation of benefits is explicitly not considered a reason to conclude the income will end.

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Housing Grants and Programs for Disabled Texans (What Helps You Buy vs. Modify)

When researching housing grants for disabled Texas residents, it is important to separate programs that help you buy a home from programs that pay for accessibility modifications or rent. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) administers three key disability-related housing programs with very different rules.

Amy Young Barrier Removal Program (Up to $22,500 for Accessibility)

The Amy Young Barrier Removal Program (AYBR) is an accessibility grant program administered by TDHCA. While many buyers see it listed on grant roundups, this is not down payment assistance—it pays for physical accessibility upgrades after you own your home (or while you rent).

According to TDHCA's program rules:

• Grant amount: One-time grants of up to $22,500 for accessibility modifications.
• Who qualifies: Qualified households that include a person with a disability and have a total household income at or below 80% of the Area Median Family Income (AMFI).
• Homeowners and tenants: Applicants may be tenants or homeowners. For a homebuyer, that means AYBR is help to consider after you buy, not money toward the purchase itself.
• How to apply: TDHCA accepts applications for its Reservation System on an ongoing, year-round basis, but the program is delivered through a network of local administrators and is not available in every part of Texas. Buyers and homeowners can search for a local administrator on TDHCA's "Help for Texans" page under Home Repair/Accessibility Modifications or email TDHCA at HTF@tdhca.texas.gov.

TDHCA HOME Investment Partnerships (5% Disability Set-Aside)

Unlike the Amy Young program, TDHCA's HOME Investment Partnerships Program can directly help with purchasing a house. According to TDHCA, 5% of TDHCA's HOME funds must serve persons with disabilities who live in any area of the state.

Through local administrators, HOME's Homebuyer Assistance (HBA) activity provides funds to lower-income homebuyers for down payment and closing cost assistance, and it can also fund accessibility modifications after purchase. Local providers can offer assistance under the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) set-aside or general pools. TDHCA's program pages do not publish HBA amounts, income limits, loan terms, or which areas currently have funds, so check TDHCA's Help for Texans page to find a local provider and confirm what is available in your county.

Why Section 811 Is Not a Homebuying Program

You will occasionally see Section 811 mentioned in articles about disability housing grants. In Texas, TDHCA's Section 811 Project Rental Assistance program is strictly rental assistance. It provides project-based rental assistance for extremely low-income persons with disabilities. It is not a homebuying program.

Local Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Homeownership Rules

If you participate in a local Public Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher program, some Texas cities allow vouchers to be used for homeownership, with special flexibility for households with disabilities:

• Longview: Under Longview's Housing Choice Voucher homeownership program, there is no time limit on assistance for elderly or disabled families, and the standard employment requirement is waived for them.
• Grand Prairie: Elderly or disabled families can receive voucher homeownership assistance for up to 30 years, compared to a 15-year maximum for other households.
• City of Houston HAP note: The Houston Homebuyer Assistance Program allows its liquid-asset cap (less than $50,000) to be waived for buyers who are retired, near retirement, or disabled—though Houston's HAP is currently paused because funds are exhausted.

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Statewide Down Payment Assistance to Pair With Disability Income

You don't need a disability-specific loan to buy a house. TDHCA's statewide down payment assistance programs pair with FHA, VA, and USDA loans, and My Choice Texas Home also offers HFA conventional loans.

Buyers apply for these programs through a participating lender—our team helps you check your eligibility, compare options, and get connected. Program interest rates are set daily by the program, so a participating lender can quote today's rate and check which assistance tiers are currently active.

My First Texas Home (MFTH)

My First Texas Home is TDHCA's bond-funded program for first-time buyers (those who have not owned and occupied a primary residence in the past three years), qualified veterans, and buyers purchasing in a Qualified Targeted Census Tract.

• Eligible loan types: 30-year fixed-rate FHA, VA, and USDA loans.
• Down payment and closing cost assistance: 2% to 5% of the total loan amount as a 0% interest second lien with no required monthly payments, while funding lasts. Depending on daily availability on TDHCA's Rate Notice, the second lien is structured either as a 30-year deferred repayable loan (due on sale, refinance, transfer, or payoff) or, when combined with an MCC, a 3-year deferred forgivable lien (forgiven after 36 months of occupancy and on-time payments).
• Credit and underwriting: Minimum 620 middle credit score. Automated underwriting (AUS) sets the debt-to-income limit, or up to 45% DTI for manual underwriting.
• Combo option: Can be paired with a Texas Mortgage Credit Certificate (TXMCC), which showed a 15% credit rate on TDHCA's October 26, 2026 Rate Notice: a non-refundable federal income tax credit on annual mortgage interest paid (limited by your tax liability). TDHCA says to check the daily Rate Notice for the current rate.

My Choice Texas Home (MCTH)

If you currently own a home—for example, a two-story house that no longer works for your mobility—and need to buy an accessible one-story ranch, My Choice Texas Home does not require you to be a first-time buyer.

• Eligible loan types: 30-year fixed-rate FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae HFA Preferred, and Freddie Mac HFA Advantage conventional loans.
• Down payment assistance: 2% to 5% of the loan amount as a 0% interest second lien, offered in either the 30-year deferred repayable or 3-year deferred forgivable structure (subject to daily Rate Notice availability).
• No purchase price limit: Unlike MFTH, My Choice Texas Home has no maximum purchase price cap, and only the income of the borrower(s) on the loan application is counted toward the program income limits.
• Minimum credit score: 620 middle score, plus a required pre-purchase HUD-certified homebuyer education course (such as Finally Home!, Fannie Mae HomeView, or Freddie Mac CreditSmart Homebuyer U).

Current Published TDHCA Income and Price Limits (Major Metros)

Here are the current published TDHCA 1-unit non-targeted income and purchase price limits (effective July 13, 2026). Limits can change, so confirm your county's exact figures with a participating lender.

Note: Properties in Qualified Targeted Census Tracts have higher MFTH/MCC income and purchase price limits, and MCTH also offers an above-80% AMI conventional tier.

Financing Accessibility Upgrades with an FHA 203(k) Loan

Keep in mind that FHA 203(k) renovation loans are not allowed in any TDHCA program. TSAHC's Home Sweet Texas and Homes for Texas Heroes programs do allow limited FHA 203(k) loans, so if you want to finance repairs with your purchase, read our FHA 203(k) guide and ask a participating lender whether the work you need qualifies.

Check Your Texas Home Purchase Eligibility

The Texas Disabled-Person Homestead Exemption ($200,000 Combined School Relief)

Once you close on your home in Texas, property taxes become a major ongoing housing cost. Texas law gives homeowners with disabilities several property tax benefits.

1. Additional $60,000 School District Exemption ($200,000 Total)

After voters approved Proposition 13 and Proposition 11 on November 4, 2025 (carried out by S.B. 4 and S.B. 23), Texas raised both the general Texas homestead exemption and the additional exemption for homeowners who are disabled or age 65 or older (effective from the 2025 tax year forward):

• General residence homestead school exemption (Tax Code §11.13(b)): $140,000 off appraised value.
• Additional disabled or 65+ school exemption (Tax Code §11.13(c)): $60,000 off appraised value.
• Combined school tax reduction: $200,000 off your home's school-district taxable value. By our arithmetic, on a home appraised at $300,000, a qualifying disabled homeowner pays school district taxes as if the home were worth $100,000 (before any local optional exemptions or ceiling).

2. School Tax Ceiling ("Tax Freeze")

Under Tax Code §11.26, qualifying for the §11.13(c) disabled homeowner exemption also locks in a school tax ceiling. Your school district may not increase the total school tax on your homestead above the amount imposed in the first year you qualified for the disabled exemption (unless you add new improvements, which excludes ordinary repairs or government-required work). If you later move, the chief appraiser where you used to live must give you a certificate (Form 50-311) so the same percentage can apply to your new qualified homestead. Form 50-311 refers to a new homestead "in this taxing unit," so confirm with your appraisal district whether the ceiling carries over to a home in a different school district.

3. Local Optional Exemptions and Property Tax Deferral

• Local optional disabled exemption (§11.13(d)): Any taxing unit (city, county, school district, or special district) may adopt an additional local exemption for disabled or 65+ homeowners of at least $3,000.
• Tax deferral (§33.06): If a fixed budget ever makes property taxes difficult to pay, qualifying disabled homeowners can file a Tax Deferral Affidavit (Comptroller Form 50-126) with the county chief appraiser so taxing units may not sue or foreclose while they own and occupy the homestead. A tax lien remains and interest accrues at 5% a year during the deferral instead of the usual rate, and no new penalty is added.

Who Qualifies and How to Apply

Under Texas Tax Code §11.13(m)(1), "disabled" for the residence homestead exemption means being under a disability for purposes of payment of disability insurance benefits under Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (Social Security).

• No double-dipping on the same tax unit: If you are both disabled and 65 or older, you cannot receive both the disabled and elderly exemptions from the same taxing unit in the same year, though you may receive them from different taxing units.
• Disabled veterans: Veterans with service-connected disabilities should also review the separate Texas disabled veteran property tax exemption, and they can also pair their home purchase with a Texas Veterans Land Board home loan.
• How to file: Submit Comptroller Form 50-114 (Residence Homestead Exemption Application) to your county appraisal district, along with a copy of your Texas driver's license or state ID showing the property address. The §11.13(c) and (d) disabled exemptions take effect as of January 1 of the tax year in which you qualify, applying to the entire tax year. You have up to one year from the date you qualify to file.

Next Steps to Buy Your Home in Texas

Having a disability or living on SSDI or SSI does not put homeownership out of reach in Texas. By pairing disability-friendly FHA or conventional underwriting with 2% to 5% in TDHCA down payment assistance, applying for the $200,000 combined school property tax exemption after closing, and using TDHCA's Amy Young Barrier Removal Program if your home needs accessibility ramps or modifications, you can work to manage both upfront and ongoing costs.

Buyers apply for TDHCA programs through a participating lender. Our team can help you check your eligibility, compare options, and get connected with a participating lender.

Check Your Texas Home Purchase Eligibility