South Carolina Safe Home Program
Administered by the South Carolina Department of Insurance, the South Carolina Safe Home program provides coastal property owners with matching and non-matching funds to retrofit their homes in order to increase hurricane and extreme weather resilience. The SC Safe Home specifically targets owner-occupied, single-family homes seeking to increase their properties’ resilience; funds cannot be used for remodeling, home repair, or new construction.
The Safe Home program offers three types of mitigation awards. Award type and amount are determined by the total annual gross household income of the applicant, adjusted for the family size relative to the county’s or state’s median family income, whichever is greater. The program has published an Award Calculator to help applicants determine whether they qualify for matching or non-matching grants. Households earning less than 80 percent of the county area median income are eligible to receive non-matching grant funds.
The Resilient Mitigation Award provides $7,500 in non-matching grants and $6,000 in matching grants to support roof retrofits that meet SC Safe Home Retrofit Guidelines as well as the Institute for Business and Home Safety FORTIFIED ROOF Program’s Retrofit Guidelines. The Sustainable Mitigation Award offers $5,000 in non-matching grants and $4,000 in matching grants to fund either roof retrofits meeting SC Safe Home Retrofit Guidelines or Window Replacement and Opening Protection Retrofits meeting SC Safe Home Opening Protection Guidelines. Lastly, the Hurricane Shuttering and Protective Barrier Systems Award allocates $3,000 in matching and non-matching funds to homeowners seeking to install hurricane shuttering and protective barrier systems that meet SC Safe Home Opening Protection Guidelines.
Qualifying roof retrofits include, but are not limited to, projects such as installing a secondary water barrier to prevent water intrusion and reinforcing roof-to-wall connections. Other qualifying mitigation retrofits include improving protections to all exterior openings, including windows, doors, and garage doors, as well as replacing piers, anchors, and tie-down straps used on manufactured or modular housing.
Alongside grant information, the SC Department of Insurance has published various resources, including an award calculator, how-to guides on retrofit installations and obtaining tax credits, and state and federal-level disaster management resources for homeowners. The SC Safe Home program was established by Section 11 of the Omnibus Coastal Property Insurance Reform Act of 2007, which aims to increase the availability and affordability of property insurance coverage in South Carolina. The SF Safe Home program is part of the Omnibus Act’s focus on mitigation strategies to increase individual and community resilience.
Publication Date: 2025
Related Organizations:
- South Carolina Department of Insurance
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- Funding program
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