CHAPA applauds the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Legislature for the expansion of the State Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) included in the tax relief legislation signed today by Governor Maura Healey. The State LIHTC is one of the most catalytic tools we have for the production and preservation of affordable housing, creating more homes for people who need them while preventing displacement and promoting fair housing for all.
Several provisions in the legislation signed today are meant to immediately ease housing cost burdens experienced by households with low incomes, seniors, and renters. By expanding the State LIHTC, Massachusetts is investing in the long-term solution of creating the affordable homes that people, our communities, our economy, and the Commonwealth need to thrive. Raising the State LIHTC from $40 million to $60 million per year will support between 600-900 affordable homes each year with the possibility to support more homes with an expansion of additional housing finance programs that can be made possible through housing bond bill legislation.
Created in 1999, the Massachusetts LIHTC program supports public-private partnerships to help create and preserve affordable housing. By leveraging private investment, the state awards tax credits to investors in affordable multifamily rental developments. The state LIHTC has successfully supported the production of more than 25,000 homes, including 21,547 affordable apartments and 4,000 market-rate apartments across the Commonwealth.
Housing is the single best investment we can make for the future of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth needs 200,000 new homes by 2030 to stabilize home prices and rents. Stabilizing prices that are too high for too many means that we need to create homes that are affordable for people with low and moderate incomes. The Administration and Legislature are investing in tools that make it possible to create homes for people across income levels. Expansion of the State LIHTC; increases through the state budget in the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, Alternative Housing Voucher Program, and Public Housing; and new multifamily zoning requirements for communities served by the MBTA bring together the elements needed to create affordable housing. This is the intentionality that is needed to ensure that 20% of new housing production is affordable for households with low and moderate incomes and 10% of new homes are affordable for people with extremely low incomes.
The expansion of the State Low Income Housing Tax Credit is an investment in a strong and healthy future for our residents, our communities, and our Commonwealth.