Housing Briefs - April 15, 2011

State Updates

House Committee on Ways and Means Releases FY 2012 State Budget Proposal

On Wednesday, April 13th, the House Committee on Ways and Means released its FY 2012 Budget Proposal. The budget closes a $1.8 billion gap created by a revenue shortfall from the slow economy, the repeal of the sales tax on alcohol and the loss of ARRA stimulus funds. The Committee on Ways and Means made affordable housing and assistance for homeless families and individuals a FY’12 budget priority. Affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs are essentially level-funded at FY’11 funding levels. Highlights include:

• MRVP will be funded at $36 million, a slight reduction from FY’11 overall spending but sufficient funding to ensure every household on the program will be served in FY’12. Program administrators will be able to reissue vouchers when they are turned in.
• Public Housing is level-funded at $62.5 million, a difficult funding level given rising costs and snow and ice spending from the harsh winter.
• RAFT is level-funded at $260,000 and also a difficult funding level due to the depletion of ARRA Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing funds for similar purposes.
• Housing Consumer Education Centers, AHVP, the Tenancy Preservation Program, Foreclosure Counseling Grants, Mental Health Rental Subsidies, and Home and Healthy for Good are all level-funded.

We would like to thank Speaker Robert DeLeo, Chairman Brian Dempsey, Vice-Chairman Steve Kulik, Assistant Vice-Chair Martha Walz, Chairman Kevin Honan, the members of the Ways and Means Committee, and many other partners in the House for their support for affordable housing throughout the budget process.

The House will debate the budget during the week of April 25th. We expect the Senate to release and debate its version of the FY’12 budget in early to mid May. Following the May Senate deliberations, a conference committee will negotiate a budget to send to Governor Patrick for his approval prior to July 1.

Ways and Means Proposal Includes Patrick-Murray Administration’s Family Homelessness Reform Plan; Makes Key Improvements

The House Ways and Means Budget adopted the approach outlined in Governor Patrick’s House One budget proposal to assist homeless families – called HomeBase. While keeping the core of HomeBase intact, Chairman Dempsey’s version of the new program includes several critical improvements for which CHAPA advocated to ensure the program operates effectively throughout the state. Highlights of the program include:

• Under the House Ways and Means budget, families served with short-term rental assistance would pay up to 35% of their income towards rent, and rents could not be higher than 80% of HUD Fair Market Rent. Rental assistance would still be capped at 3 continuous years. Families could also receive assistance of up to $4,000 to divert them from homelessness if they don’t need continuous rental assistance.
• HomeBase-eligible families could earn no more than 115% of the federal poverty level, but if they are successful in increasing their incomes while utilizing the program, families could earn up to 50% area median income without being terminated from the program.
• The Ways and Means language is clear that families that seek HomeBase assistance must be provided with housing or shelter while they wait to secure an apartment.
• The language also clarifies that families utilizing HomeBase will be assigned a stabilization worker and receive stabilization services. The regional administrators can subcontract to secure stabilization service providers.
• The language ensures that families with heads of households that adhere to their housing stabilization plan or are headed by a person with a disability or a senior are not punitively barred from shelter due to unsuccessful participation in HomeBase.

The only remaining issue is whether setting an 80% Fair Market Rent maximum rent level is feasible. There are many families currently living in apartments that exceed 80% FMR with HPRP or Flex Funds assistance. These families will have to transition to HomeBase assistance in July and we do not support displacing these families because of the need to adhere to an 80% FMR rent cap. We are also concerned that there isn’t a sufficient number of vacant apartments that meet the State Sanitary Code at this low rent level. We anticipate positive discussions to address this issue with members of the House and ultimately the Senate.

We thank Chairman Dempsey and many members of the House for their support for HomeBase and their willingness to make these language changes that clarify and improve critical program design.

Legislative Committees Schedule Hearings; Housing Committee May and June Schedule Tentatively Set

Many state legislative committees have commenced public hearings on 2011-2012 legislative proposals. The legislature’s new website has a section that tracks various public hearings as the hearing agendas are confirmed.

The Housing Committee has scheduled several hearings not yet posted on the legislature’s website. On May 3rd, the Committee will hear testimony on several bills related to public housing, including the Public Housing Innovations Act. The May 3rd Housing Committee hearing will also include an opportunity to submit testimony on An Act Promoting Accessible Housing for Persons with Disabilities. On May 10th, the Housing Committee will hear testimony on An Act Relative to Community Housing and Services.

On April 13th, the Committee on Community Development and Small Business heard testimony on An Act Promoting Community Preservation and legislation to provide a predictable funding source for the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund. Members interested in supporting those bills can still provide written testimony to the Committee Co-chairs, Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry and Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Committee on Community Development and Small Business, State House Room 26, Boston, MA 02133.

Department of Energy Resources Releases White Paper on Rating Commercial Property Energy Efficiency; Multifamily Rental Housing Included

DOER has released MPG Rating for Commercial Buildings: Establishing a Building Energy Asset Labeling Program in Massachusetts to “lay out a series of concepts and preliminary recommendations associated with the development of a commercial building energy asset rating and labeling program, designed to provide clear and actionable energy information about a building’s potential energy performance”.

The multi-year pilot would put a mechanism in place to evaluate a building’s energy performance and assign the building a score. As proposed, the building owner would be responsible for the cost of the evaluation, an unknown potential cost for multifamily rental owners. Click here to learn more about the initiative.

The Massachusetts Housing Partnership Solicits Local Heroes Award Nominations

MHP has launched a new initiative to honor a local elected official, municipal or housing authority staff person or volunteer community leader for their outstanding efforts to support affordable housing in his or her community. If you would like to nominate an exceptional local leader, please send your nominations by Friday, May 6, 2011 to Dina Vargo, Program Manager, MHP, 160 Federal St., Boston, MA, 02110. For more information, contact Dina at dvargo@mhp.net or 617-330-9944 x260.

DHCD Releases Comprehensive Permit Design Handbook

The four Massachusetts housing agencies that review and approve site eligibility applications for Chapter 40B affordable housing developments have released a handbook to help guide the design of comprehensive permit developments to ensure high quality site and building design. The guidebook is available by clicking here. These new guidelines will be covered at an upcoming training on June 15 in Marlborough.

Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness Releases Evaluation of Regional Homeless Network Pilots

The Patrick-Murray Administration has released a detailed evaluation on the impact of the eighteen-month pilot implemented by the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH) that established Regional Networks to develop and test innovations to address homelessness. The report’s nine recommendations are:

1. Allocate state resources to effectively support the full DHCD architecture for individuals and families: prevention, diversion, shelter, rehousing, and stabilization.
2. DHCD should continue to support triage efforts within both family and unaccompanied adult service delivery systems.
3. The ICHH should give additional focus to three priority populations: young families, survivors of domestic violence, and those being discharged from institutions.
4. The state should continue efforts to make a continuum of housing supports available.
5. The Regional Networks should continue to coordinate resources across multiple client access points and facilitate broad-based discussions.
6. The Uniform Assessment Tool should become streamlined across state agencies that work with at-risk or homeless populations and integrated into all HMIS systems in the state based on standard data exchange formats.
7. The Commonwealth should continue to provide technical assistance to Regional Networks related to data and evaluation.
8. The Commonwealth should institutionalize a research and evaluation protocol into all facets of its response to housing instability and homelessness.
9. The state should invest long term in a statewide Integrated Data System (IDS), also known as a de-identified data warehouse.

New Massachusetts Foreclosure Activity Slowing Dramatically

Foreclosure petition filings and foreclosure deeds have fallen dramatically in the first two months of 2011, according to a report by The Warren Group. Foreclosure petitions filed in February totaled 694, down 67% from the level in February 2010, and foreclosure deeds filed in February totaled 515, down 44% from January 2010. Auction notices fell by 70% (from 2,774 in February 2010 to 842 in February 2011). The report cites a new ‘go-slow’ attitude among lenders.

City of Boston Issues “Leading the Way” Progress Report

The City of Boston recently released a midpoint report on its progress in meeting the four major goals set out in its 2009-2012 housing strategy (“Leading the Way III”). It highlights the important role city-sponsored housing investment has played in the local economy in 2009 and 2010, accounting for 59% of all housing investment in the City and almost 1,000 construction jobs. Private sector production has lagged, however, with only 602 new units permitted at the midpoint (December 31, 2010), compared to the 1,500 unit midpoint target, and no on-site inclusionary units were produced. Shortfalls were most pronounced in downtown neighborhoods, where sales volume has been weak. First-time homebuyer production also fell short (reaching 65% of the midpoint target).

The City exceeded its midpoint targets for affordable rental housing production (514 units permitted), foreclosure prevention, reclaiming REO housing and revitalizing high foreclosure neighborhoods, noting increased investor purchase activity at auction and some recovery in home prices. It also met its midpoint target for affordable rental housing preservation. Trying to to reduce long-term individual homeless by 100% and family homelessness by 50% by 2012 has proven the biggest challenge.

Logan Airport Terminals Feature Photo Exhibit of Boston Housing Authority

MassPort and the Boston Housing Authority have teamed up to display a photo exhibit at Logan Airport. The exhibit features BHA housing developments and the families that have lived in them from the 1930s through the present. The 60 photographs will be on display in Terminal B and Terminal C until May 20th.

Federal Updates

Final Continuing Resolution for FY2011 Budget Includes Deep Cuts to Housing Programs

The final budget for FY2011 (H.R. 1473), passed by the House and Senate yesterday, includes deep cuts for HUD and Rural Housing Service programs. The cuts, however, were smaller than the cuts experienced by some other federal agencies and were significantly less than the House Republican proposal last month.

On the HUD side, as detailed in a CHAPA budget analysis and NLIHC budget chart, the proposed bill largely protects the tenant-based and project-based rental assistance program from cuts (except for a cut in administrative fees), but cuts the Public Housing Capital Fund appropriation by 18% compared to FY2010. It cuts CDBG block grants by 16%, HOME block grants by 12% and the Section 202 and Section 811 programs for the elderly and persons with disabilities by 50% (though some of the Section 811 cut is offset by a decision to fund $34.9 million in renewal cuts through the Tenant Based Rental Assistance account).

It eliminates funding for the Housing Counseling Program ($87.5 million in FY2010), which has successfully provided support to millions of homeowner and renters. It also cuts funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative by one third and funding for HOPE VI/Choice Neighborhoods by 50%.

As detailed in an analysis by the Housing Assistance Council, Rural Housing Service single family loan programs were largely level-funded or increased, but the appropriation for the repair program for very low income households will fall by one-third. Other programs receiving large cuts were the Section 538 rental housing guarantee program (cut by 76%) and the rental preservation revolving loan program (cut by 44%). Rental Assistance funding was cut by 3%, Section 524 rural housing voucher funds by 15% and the Rental Preservation Demonstration program by 40%

House Passes FY2012 Budget Resolution

Today, the full House passed the FY2012 budget resolution proposed by the House Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan on April 5. The party line vote was 235 - 133. The budget resolution sets aggregate spending limits for 19 broad spending categories (budget "functions”) as detailed in the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ budget primer, as well as revenue targets, and may include provisions on how the budget process will operate. An accompanying report distributes the spending limits by congressional committee (302(a) allocations) and the Appropriations Committee in turn divides its 302(a) allocation among its 12 appropriations subcommittees (302(b) sub-allocations). Appropriations bills must fit within the sub-allocations. It is a “concurrent” resolution, requiring approval by House and Senate but not by the President.

Analyses indicate that the Ryan proposal will increase the federal deficit for the first ten years, relative to doing nothing, due to proposed tax cuts for corporations and to those in the top income bracket. It proposes large cuts for discretionary programs, but the aggregate nature of the resolution means it is too soon to tell what it will mean for HUD programs. However, language in the explanatory report (“Path to Prosperity”) indicates that the resolution aims to reduce spending on federal housing assistance, and assumes more block-granting of housing assistance, along with time limits and work incentives for rental assistance (pages 42-43).

The explanatory report also calls for the winding down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and governmental guarantees generally, putting in place instead a housing finance system that will allow “private-market secondary lenders to fairly, freely and transparently compete.”

Federal Regulators Issue Critical Report, Sign Servicer Settlement Agreements

On April 13, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve announced formal enforcement actions against 10 banking organizations and two third-party servicer providers for unsafe and unsound practices related to residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing. The Federal Reserve announced its plans to announce monetary penalties as well, though no specifics were offered. The regulators also released an interagency report outlining deficiencies uncovered in their review of servicer practices.

The sanctioned organizations cover 65 percent of the servicing industry and include Bank of America Corporation; Citigroup Inc.; Ally Financial Inc.; HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; MetLife, Inc.; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; SunTrust Banks, Inc.; U.S. Bancorp; and Wells Fargo & Company. All 10 actions require the parent holding companies to improve oversight of the servicing and foreclosure processing conducted by bank and nonbank subsidiaries. The two service providers are Lender Processing Services (LPS) and MERSCORP and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS). Settlements with other servicers by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC are also expected this week. The consent agreements for each servicer can be found on the OCC and Federal Reserve websites.

The actions occurred despite a letter sent on April 6 by national, state and local consumer groups, asking the regulators to withdraw the agreements because they fail to hold the servicers accountable for past illegal practices and do not stop affordable foreclosures. The letter urged the regulators to instead join the effort lead by the Attorneys General from all 50 states, with representatives from the Justice Department, HUD, CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission, to develop their own settlement agreement with the five largest mortgage servicers. That group does not expect to reach agreement for several more months.

House Votes to End Four Foreclosure Assistance Programs

On March 10 and March 11, the House approved bills to terminate two programs to help homeowners avert foreclosure: the FHA Refinance Program (H.R. 830) and the soon-to-roll-out Emergency Homeowner Loan Program (H.R. 836), citing concerns that loan loss rates would be high. On March 16, it approved a bill to rescind the third round of funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP3) (H.R. 861) and on March 29, it approved a bill to terminate the HAMP loan modification program (H.R. 839), prohibiting any new offers of modifications once enacted. The President has indicated he will veto the bills if they reach his desk. (See the March 2011 Housing Briefs for more information on these programs.)

Proposed Rule Requires Risk Retention on Mortgages with Less Than 20% Downpayment

On March 29, six federal agencies (Federal Reserve, Treasury, HUD, SEC, FDIC and FHFA) issued a proposed rule on Credit Risk Retention for public comment. Comments are due by June 10, 2011, and a rule summary as well as the proposed rule highlights topics on which they would particularly like to receive comments (see page 69-87 for mortgages discussion). The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets held a hearing on the rule on April 14.

The proposed rule seeks to implement the Dodd-Frank law’s requirement that asset -backed security issuers, including mortgage backed security issuers, retain at least 5% of the risk in the underlying assets, except in the case of securities backed entirely by “qualified residential mortgages” (QRM). The bill left the definition of QRM to regulators.

As proposed, securitizations and assets backed by a federal or state guarantee do not have to retain risk. For all others, the rule defines QRM as first lien mortgages on 1-4 unit owner-occupied properties that meet strict downpayment and other standards. The most controversial element is the requirement of at least a 20% downpayment for a purchase mortgage. Homebuilders, mortgage bankers and consumer groups such as the Center for Responsible Lending have criticized the rule as unduly restrictive and, like other economists, found that it is likely to raise mortgage interest costs for first time homebuyers who can’t put 20% down and dampen overall sales activity.

The Center for American Progress notes that it is hard to forecast the implications of this rule, including what the non-QRM market will look like, because the future of the housing finance system is unknown. The rule may have little impact initially because mortgage lending is currently dominated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who are exempt from it.

The proposed rule caps the loan to value (LTV) for purchase mortgages at 80% (i.e. requires a down payment of at least 20% plus closing costs). It caps the combined LTV for refinance mortgages at 75% (70% if it involves cash out) and calculates all LTV ratios without consideration of use of mortgage insurance. The rule also sets borrower housing debt (mortgage, taxes and insurance) to income (DTI) ratios at 28% and total DTI at 36%. It doesn’t use credit scores, but requires that borrowers have a good recent payment history (no 30 day delinquencies at present, no 60 day delinquencies on any debt in the prior 24 months). It excludes reverse mortgages, interest-only mortgages, negative amortization mortgages, and those with significant interest rate increases and purchase mortgage junior liens at closing.

The rule allows financial institutions some choice in how they will meet the 5% risk retention standard and allows some hedging of the risk. It sets few requirements regarding servicing standards, believing it is preferable to establish national standards separately, through the servicer agreement negotiations already underway (see below).

GSE Reform Discussion Continues; House Republicans Propose 8 Bills

On March 15, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Secretary Geithner stated that the Administration hopes to pass comprehensive GSE reform legislation “within the next two years” and stressed the importance of a “careful and deliberate pace” in winding down Fannie and Freddie. He outlined several elements of such an approach, including allowing the current high cost loan limits to expire, gradually raising downpayment requirements and continuing to reduce the GSE portfolios.

House Republicans, however, indicated a desire to start the reform debate sooner, introducing an eight-bill package which was quickly approved by the Capital Markets and GSE Subcommittee of the Housing Committee on Financial Services on April 6. One bill (H.R. 1223) requires Fannie and Freddie to meet the same credit risk retention standard (5%) as is proposed for private mortgage back security issuers, even though the federal government already backs the GSE guarantee of 100% returns to MBS investors.

H.R. 1221 suspends the compensation packages for top GSE executives and put all other employees on the federal General Schedule pay scale. H.R. 1224 caps the portfolios of both Fannie and Freddie at $700 billion each and requires an accelerated reduction over the next five years (to $250 billion each). The other five bills require the GSEs to raise their guarantee fees, repeal the GSE affordable housing goals, strengthen the FHFA inspector general’s office and prohibit the GSEs from undertaking any new business.

Conforming Loan Limits Expected to Drop

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a note on March 29 advising that limits in high cost areas will drop starting October 1, 2011 absent legislative action to the contrary by Congress. In Massachusetts, the limits in 9 eastern counties will decline by 10-14%, depending on the county. In Greater Boston, the decline would be 11% (from $523,750 to $465,750 for a single family home).

FHFA notes that the impact will probably be felt a little before October 1 given the time required to go from mortgage application to origination and will affect refinances as well as purchases. It reports that 7% of single family loans (about 4,500) in Massachusetts purchased/securitized by GSEs in 2010 were above the new lower limit.

HUD Reports 557,000 Active Permanent HAMP Loan Modifications

HUD’s latest monthly report on loan modification activity under its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) indicates that as of the end of February 2011, active permanent loan modifications totaled 557,076 nationwide, while another 12% (76,678) of all permanent modifications have been cancelled. The number of active permanent modifications has been growing by about 18,000 a month over the last six months. Another 142,239 households have active trial modifications, including 32,000 started in the past month. In Massachusetts, 17,329 homeowners have active modifications, including almost 14,000 with permanent and 3,412 with trial modifications.

To date, almost 750,000 trial modifications nationwide have been cancelled and the February report includes data from the eight largest servicers on the current mortgage status of such households. It indicates that 44% received “alternative modifications” from the servicer, 14.5% are in foreclosure proceedings, 5.5% ended in foreclosure completions, 6.5% ended in short sales, action is “pending” in 14.3% of cases and 11.2% are current (8.4%) or paid off (2.8%) their loans.

Recent Research

Report Proposes Strategy for National Energy Retrofit for Assisted Housing

The What Works Collaborative has issued a white paper calling for a federal initiative to support energy- and water-saving retrofits of the nation’s federal subsidized multifamily housing inventory, with an initial focus on HUD’s 3.5 million units of private assisted and public housing. Scaling the Nationwide Energy Retrofit of Affordable Multifamily Housing calls for HUD to lead this initiative by setting goals, providing incentives to owners (including housing authorities) and addressing the regulatory barriers that currently make retrofits difficult to finance or provide a disincentive. It focuses on the retrofitting of existing buildings using conventional energy sources. After reviewing existing federal and state programs and policies, it examines key barriers to a national retrofit. The largest is the absence of capital for upfront costs. Others include the unwillingness of private lenders to underwrite projects based on future energy savings and a lack of good data to predict savings. Fragmented federal and state programs make a coordinated effort difficult as well.

The report identifies numerous specific policy changes that could support a national retrofit, including giving project owners access to project reserves and residual receipts, re-writing insured loans and subsidy contracts or utility allowances to allow owners to receive some of the savings, and aggregating transactions (financing multiple projects in a single transaction) to reduce costs.

Enterprise Issues New Green Communities Criteria

Enterprise Community Partners has issued its 2011 update of its Green Communities Criteria and checklist. Green Communities is a national program begun in 2004 to encourage green affordable housing. It offers grants, loans, tax-credit equity, training and technical assistance to developers interested in using sustainable materials, reducing negative environmental impacts and increases energy efficiency. It emphasizes locations with access to services and public transportation.

The Criteria provide a clear framework for defining green development and are updated every three years in response to technological advances and developer and policymaker recommendations. They align with the LEED rating system and are compatible with many state and local green building programs. Certification is open to all developers of affordable housing (at least 80% of the project space must be residential and at least 80% of the units must be affordable).

National Study Highlights Recent Trends in Homelessness

A new report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness provides insight into why and how homeless counts have changed between 2008 and 2009. Nationwide, the point-in-time homeless count rose by 3% (20,000 persons) to about 656,000, with increases among all subpopulations (individuals, families with children, chronic, unsheltered). Nineteen states reported decreases, while the District of Columbia and 31 of the 50 states had increases. The homeless family count rose by 4%, while the number of chronically homeless persons stagnated despite an 11% increase in permanent supportive housing units. Most of the growth was attributed to recession that began in 2008 and worsened in 2009 and to the rise in foreclosures.

It reports that in Massachusetts, the number of persons who were homeless rose by 6.7% (from 14,506 to 15,482), as a 14% increase in the number of persons in homeless families (to 8,425) more than offset an 18% decrease in the chronically homeless and a 6% drop in the unsheltered homeless count. The study looked at how states compared on risk factors that appear to contribute most to growth in homelessness.

While Massachusetts ranked low on a number of risk factors, including growth in housing cost burdens and in foreclosure, it ranked above the national average in increases in unemployment, declines in real incomes among poor workers, growth in doubled up households and growth in prison discharges. The report calculated that Massachusetts’ incidence of homelessness per 10,000 households was 23 in 2009, compared to 21 nationwide.

Poll Finds Americans Value Homeownership but Unsure About Government Involvement

Allstate Insurance and the National Journal released the results of a poll this month on public attitudes towards homeownership and the American Dream. The poll is the eighth in a series of “Heartland Monitor” polls begun a year ago “to explore how Middle-Class Americans navigate the economy and where they look for help in doing so.” As summarized by Allstate, the poll found that Americans value homeownership but question the benefits of government involvement.

Most (70%) respondents felt buying a home is a sound investment but many homeowners were unaware of the ways in which they benefit from federal housing policy. Only 21% reported that they benefit from federal policies, even though 71% take the mortgage deduction. Respondents were evenly split on the question of whether the federal government should maintain or scale back policies that support homeownership; only half (50%) supported keeping the mortgage interest deduction unchanged, while 43% supported eliminating it or scaling it back.

Similarly, only half (50%) favored retaining a GSE-like role in the secondary market, while 46% said it should be reduced even though it might result in more expensive mortgages. Half (52%) blamed the foreclosure crisis on lenders (for approving bad loans and misleading borrowers), while 32% blamed borrowers and 12% blamed government policies. A third (35%) felt federal policies helped limit the crisis, 32% felt they made things worse and 26% felt the policies had little impact.

CLPHA Study Finds Public Housing Generates Significant Economic Benefits

A new study commissioned by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) found that the $4 billion in stimulus funds for public housing capital improvements nationwide is generating significant local economic activity. “Public Housing Stimulus Funding: A Report on the Economic Impact of Recovery Act Capital Improvements” released in March, found that every stimulus dollar spend generated another $2.12 in indirect and induced spending, based on its review of projects carried out by 20 PHAs, including Cambridge MA.

The report noted that some PHAs will also realize significant energy savings, citing Cambridge as an example. Cambridge expects water and energy savings of $530,000 a year as a result of improvements at two developments.

Report Looks at Income Required for Economic Security, Impact of Assistance Programs

Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) released a new report (Basic Economic Security Tables for the United States) that estimates the income and work benefits various types of households need to meet basic needs and accumulate savings for emergencies and retirement. A companion policy brief examines the impact of child care, housing, Medicaid and other assistance programs on the economic security of a single parent household (with two children) at various income levels.

The brief looked at six states, including Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia. In Massachusetts, it found that a single parent needed to earn $30.40 an hour to achieve economic security but that with full access to subsidies, such a parent who was a low-wage earner ($10/hour) would come very close to economic security (98%). By contrast, a “middle wage” ($23/hour) earner would fall short by 19%, because he/she would be ineligible for housing and child care assistance.

New Study Examines Impacts of Housing Instability and Mobility on Children

A report by The Center on Housing Policy, “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Exploring the Effects of Housing Instability and Mobility on Children”, issued on April 6th, examines recent research on whether low income households move more frequently than others, the reasons for moves and how moves affect child well-being. It finds that low income families are more likely to move, though sometimes for positive reasons.

It also finds that moves that are involuntary or frequent can have negative effects on children. It also found that families with housing assistance were more likely to move. Very frequent movers tended to have multiple problems and the authors conclude more research is needed to determine how housing assistance and support services can promote stability.