by iwd Tina | Sep 12, 2022 | Housing News
On September 12, CHAPA, along with Department of Housing and Community Development and 21 industry, non-profit and state partners, submitted an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Terrence Marengi v. 6 Forest Road, LLC (“Marengi”) in support of a ruling of the Superior Court, as affirmed by the Appeals Court, applying recently enacted abutter appeal reform provisions to comprehensive permit cases.
Marengi involves a group of abutters challenging an order requiring them to post a $35,000 bond to pursue their appeal of an approved 40B comprehensive permit in Salisbury. The abutters argue that the bond provisions of chapter 40A, § 17, do not apply to appeals of 40B comprehensive permits. The third paragraph of §17 is the one in question.
The abutters appealed the decision of the Superior Court in granting the bond request to the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The Appeals Court upheld the decision of the Superior Court, ruling that § 17 of ch. 40A applies to appeals of 40B comprehensive permits. The abutters appealed this decision and the Supreme Judicial Court will now decide the case.
The Economic Development Bill from 2020 amended § 17 of ch. 40A to allow a judge to require abutters to post a bond of up to $50,000 if the court finds the harm to the defendant or to the public interest resulting from the delay of the project caused by the appeal outweighs the financial burden of the bond on the abutters. The Legislature passed this new section of § 17 to discourage frivolous appeals which abutters often use to delay or ultimately stop the building of new homes. The Legislature passed this along with other historic zoning reforms in the Economic Development Bill, including Housing Choice and the MBTA multifamily zoning requirement, to remove barriers to housing.
CHAPA and our partners argue that § 17 of ch. 40A applies to appeals of 40B comprehensive permits, and further that the Legislature always intended the new bonding requirement in § 17 to apply to 40B because the section was added by the Economic Development as part of a series of reforms all passed to address the state’s housing shortage.
A decision is not expected for several months.
by iwd Tina | Sep 9, 2022 | Housing News
After the success of affordable rental search website, Housing Navigator’s first year, MyMassHome launches today as the homeownership component in a suite of tools for hopeful affordable, accessible homebuyers. MyMassHome is a free website that serves as a one-stop portal with connections to all the resources homebuyers with low, moderate, and fixed incomes in Massachusetts need. These include a new search tool for affordable and accessible homes for sale, down payment assistance resources, first-time homebuyer education courses, and state-sponsored products offered by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and MassHousing. MyMassHome streamlines the homebuying process by bringing these resources — accessed before via four separate websites — to a centralized place with an improved user experience.
“Expanding access to affordable homeownership opportunities is critical, and MyMassHome will ensure a comprehensive, more modern, and user-friendly option for people searching for their next home,” said Rachel Heller, CHAPA’s chief executive officer. “By putting all the information together in one place, including the state investments that make affordable homeownership possible, sustainable homeownership is within reach for people who have been left out of the market. This is a step towards closing the racial homeownership gap so more families across the Commonwealth can thrive.”
Launched in 2021, the Housing Navigator Massachusetts transformed the process of searching for affordable rental housing, providing users the same experience as those searching for market-rate apartments have on familiar websites like Apartments.com and Trulia. The website attracted 100,000 users in its first year and over 1.6 million pageviews.
Together, the Housing Navigator and MyMassHome will replace the now outdated MassAccess Housing Registry, which has been the primary online resource for Massachusetts residents searching for affordable, accessible housing since 1996. Though a valuable tool for tens of thousands of residents during its lifetime, MassAccess had begun to show its age with an outdated design, difficult user navigation, and limited connections to other housing resources.
“Clear information plus the agency a 24/7 online resource provides are at the crux of easing housing access and ensuring fairness,” said Jennifer Gilbert, Executive Director at Housing Navigator Massachusetts, Inc. “In a year, 100,000 people have trusted our site to find an affordable home to rent in Massachusetts. We look forward to that same response to MyMassHome.”
With home prices and rents at an all-time high, connecting Massachusetts residents with low incomes and limited assets to affordable opportunities and supports increases housing stability across the Commonwealth. Websites like MyMassHome and Housing Navigator help lower barriers to entry for those most impacted by out-of-reach home prices — Black and Brown families, persons with disabilities, and households with low incomes — through resource and information sharing so more Massachusetts families can live without fear of displacement, build equity and enable generational wealth.
“Finding a place to live is difficult. Finding a place within your budget, accessible, and meets your disability needs is nearly impossible,” said Angelina Ramirez, chief executive officer of Stavros. “This is why it is so important that there are sites like MyMassHome and the Housing Navigator. Having the ability to search for a place to live using all the parameters makes it easier for a person with a disability to remain in the community.”
The launch of MyMassHome, sponsored by MHP and MassHousing, has been a collaborative partnership among CHAPA, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC).
“MRC is grateful to be a part of this innovative way to connect people to available housing,” said Toni A. Wolf, MRC Commissioner. “Every person has the right to a safe, accessible, and affordable place to live. We are constantly working to make state government more convenient and accessible to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
“As an organization that finances affordable multifamily apartments and helps first-time homebuyers with its ONE Mortgage Program, MHP appreciates Housing Navigator and CHAPA’s efforts to create greater access for renters and homebuyers,” said Clark Ziegler, executive director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. “Capitalizing on Housing Navigator’s success at creating a universal affordable rental listing by adding an updated and modern companion portal for homeownership will be a big boost to the Commonwealth’s efforts to create better access to housing for all.”
“MyMassHome will be another important tool to help us confront the housing challenges facing the residents of the Commonwealth,” said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay. “Purchasing a home in Massachusetts, particularly for first-time buyers, has never been more competitive and MyMassHome will provide lower- and moderate-income homebuyers all the information they need about where homes are for sale, how to take a homebuyer education course, down payment assistance options and financing programs available in Massachusetts.”
CHAPA and MRC will hold informational meetings and webinars in the coming months to train community service organizations and share information about MyMassHome.
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Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association (CHAPA) is Massachusetts’s leading statewide affordable housing policy organization, bringing together housing and community development stakeholders to build consensus around solutions. Established in 1967, CHAPA advocates for increased opportunity and expanded access to housing so that every person in Massachusetts can have a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home. For more information, visit www.chapa.org.
Housing Navigator Massachusetts, Inc. connects people with places to call home. A Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit, it develops technology that promotes housing equity and develops data that brings transparency to the affordable housing market. www.housingnavigatorma.org
Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) is a quasi-public state organization that works with communities to create innovative policy and financing solutions that provide affordable homes and better lives for the people of Massachusetts. It has provided support and technical assistance to over 315 communities, has financed over 27,000 apartments, has helped over 27,000 low- and moderate-income households buy their first home, and supports state policy efforts to increase affordable housing through its Center for Housing Data.
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $27.5 billion for affordable housing. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) envisions a Commonwealth that is open to all, where everyone can seize their true potential and contribute fully to our communities and the world. We work together to break down barriers and make a better state possible for people with disabilities—one that is truly equitable, accessible, and inclusive.
by iwd Tina | Sep 8, 2022 | Housing News
On September 6, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released a Winter 2023 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the affordable housing competition rental round.
DHCD will make resources available from the state and federal low income housing tax credit; American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) rental funds; HOME; National Housing Trust Fund; Affordable Housing Trust Fund and other housing capital resources; and federal and state project-based vouchers.
The deadline for submitting applications will be January 19, 2023. Pre-applications will be due October 27, 2022.
DHCD will host three virtual information sessions for developers who intend to submit pre‑applications in advance of the 2023 winter rental round. The sessions will be held on:
- Wednesday, September 28 at 1:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, October 5 at 11:00 a.m.
- Thursday, October 6 at 11:00 a.m.
If you wish to participate in a session, please email Terry Farmer at theresa.farmer@mass.gov. Please provide her with the name and location of the project(s) you are working on.
by iwd Tina | Sep 1, 2022 | Housing News
On September 1, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for FY2023. Published annually, FMRs are an estimate of the amount of money that would cover gross rents (rent and utilities) on 40% of the rental housing in a regional area.
In Massachusetts, FMRs are used to set the rent levels that rental vouchers can be used for, including vouchers from the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, and the Alternative Housing Voucher Program.
According to HUD, the new FMR levels will enable the voucher program to keep up with rent increases in the private market. These new FMRs will allow voucher holders to access and secure leases in more units so that they can benefit from the housing affordability and stability that vouchers provide.
In Boston, for example the FY2023 FMR for a two-bedroom home is $2,635. That is an increase from the FY2022 FMR of $2,399 in FY2022.
The new FMRs will go into effect on October 1.
by iwd Tina | Aug 12, 2022 | Housing News
CHAPA is pleased to see that the final MBTA multi-family zoning guidelines issued by the Baker Administration put the Commonwealth on the path to achieving our state’s housing goals. This is the most significant change to zoning in more than 40 years and will make it possible to create the homes people need, support local businesses, reduce car dependency, and help stabilize rents and home prices that have been rising faster than people’s incomes.
The final MBTA multifamily zoning guidance gives the green light for communities to get started on the critical work of establishing areas where multifamily homes will be allowed as of right, rather than the current extensive processes for zoning approvals and special permits that can make it impossible to create the homes we need. The guidelines thoughtfully address questions that arose after the initial draft was released while continuing to hold our communities to meet specific targets for homes that must be allowed. In addition, multiple forms of technical assistance will be available to help communities adopt zoning that complies with the law and enable communities to use this opportunity to advance local goals around affordability, sustainability, economic development, fair housing, and inclusion.
The guidance clarifies that communities can require affordability through local inclusionary zoning policies or through the state’s smart growth law, Chapter 40R. We encourage all communities to adopt 40R districts. By doing so, we will see more affordable homes created as part of future development and communities will receive financial benefits for establishing zoning and issuing building permits. This incentivizes new homes to be created in these areas.
Ultimately, we cannot build what is not allowed. Zoning is the tool our communities use to determine what can and cannot be built, translating into who has or does not have the opportunity to live there. Zoning is historically rooted in segregation and shaped by redlining, and the effects last for generations. By zoning for multifamily housing that creates opportunities for people across income levels, we are setting our intentions for the future. We are taking a critical step to replace exclusionary zoning with zoning that allows us to have the future we deserve – a future where everyone can thrive.
by iwd Tina | Aug 11, 2022 | Housing News
Slides with Overview of Final Guidelines for MBTA Communities
On August 10, the Baker-Polito Administration issued final guidelines to determine compliance with the new requirement for every MBTA community to have at least one zoning district in which multifamily housing is allowed as of right and located near a transit station, if applicable.
After issuing draft guidelines on December 15, 2021, the Administration held a public comment period until March 31, 2022. According to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), they received nearly 400 comments after more than 24 public engagement sessions.
In a letter from Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy and DHCD Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox, the final guidelines incorporate several changes:
Revised Community Categories: MBTA Communities are now categorized as rapid transit, commuter rail, adjacent, or adjacent small town. The “bus service” category has been eliminated.
Significant Adjustments for Small and Rural Towns with No Transit Stations: The final guidelines eliminate the minimum land area requirement and reduce the multi-family unit capacity requirement for communities with a population of less than 7,000 or less than 500 residents per square mile.
Changes to the Reasonable Size Criteria: The guidelines establish “circuit breakers” that prevent multi-family unit capacity from exceeding 25% of a community’s existing housing stock, or the minimum land from exceeding 1.5% of its total developable land area.
Tailored District Location Requirements: The portion of a multi-family zoning district that must be located within a half mile of a transit station now varies based on the amount of developable station area within each MBTA community. Communities with more developable station area land will be required to have more of their multi-family districts within a half mile of transit stations. A community with less than 100 developable acres within a half mile of a station will be free to choose any appropriate location.
Multi-family Unit Capacity Tool: To help communities calculate multi-family unit capacity in a consistent, transparent, and data-driven way, we built a compliance model workbook tool. The compliance model will provide a GIS land map for each municipality and calculate a zoning district’s multi-family unit capacity and gross density based on inputs provided by each community. This tool will be widely available for use in the fall.
The final guidelines also include refinements and adjustments in other key areas, such as affordability, local site plan review, and other technical matters, including updated definitions.
Please visit mass.gov/mbtacommunities for the guidelines and other relevant information, including forms pertaining to the compliance process. The website also includes an online form for technical assistance requests.
DHCD will host a webinar on the guidelines on September 8, 2022 at 1:00pm. Webinar Registration.
CHAPA will post more information on the final guidelines after finishing a thorough review. Please check back on our website soon.