On December 3, 2021, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released its Draft 2022–2023 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP).
Analysis of Differences Between 2020-2021 QAP & 2022-2023 QAP Draft
DHCD will hold a virtual public hearing on the Draft QAP on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. Please e-mail Bertha Borin at bertha.borin@mass.gov if you wish to attend the remote hearing. DHCD will provide access instructions the week before the hearing. Written comments on the draft may be submitted to Borin until the end of the day on January 10, 2022.
The QAP determines how the state distributes the federal and state Low Income Housing Tax Credit and other affordable housing finance programs. The plan outlines specific criteria and eligibility requirements and establishes a scoring system to evaluate projects and priorities. The QAP is reviewed and revised every two years, with opportunity for public comment.
According to DHCD, the department will focus on promoting six overarching goals:
- Supporting the production of new affordable rental units in markets throughout the state, with ongoing emphasis on units that will serve populations particularly impacted by the pandemic.
- Supporting the production of new affordable rental units for homeless families and for unaccompanied homeless adults, as the Commonwealth seeks to deconcentrate the population living in homeless shelters and to increase the supply of housing with services.
- Investing in projects whose sponsors are responding to climate change by incorporating into their projects green, sustainable and climate resilient designs, building materials, and construction methods.
- Promoting greater diversity within the affordable housing industry, to be measured both by deeper and more significant MWBE participation on specific projects and by greater diversity within the entities constituting the development teams.
- Providing stability in the investment environment for development teams who currently are coping with unfavorable construction costs, an unpredictable supply chain, and labor shortages exacerbated by the pandemic. The development teams are the delivery system for the increased production which the state so greatly needs.
- Reinforcing with all participants in the Commonwealth’s LIHTC delivery system the critical importance of the original Congressional intent when the program was created in 1986. It is DHCD’s belief that LIHTC units are intended to stand the test of time as affordable housing and to serve low- to moderate-income renters for generations to come.
CHAPA will host a meeting on Monday, January 20, 3:00-4:00 p.m., to discuss and receive input on the Draft QAP. Register to attend the virtual meeting.