Based on data from EOHLC partner Housing Navigator, there are approximately 215,00 rental homes in Massachusetts that are income-restricted. This includes affordable deed-restricted homes in private developments, state and federal public housing, and various types of supportive housing. The cost to the resident depends on the program: rent for subsidized units may be based on income (generally 30% of the household income) or fixed to a certain income standard.
The most commonly referenced measure of low-to-moderate-income units in municipalities across Massachusetts is the Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI), established under Chapter 40B, the state’s comprehensive permit law. 40B enables housing developers to circumvent local zoning in cities and towns that do not have more than 10% SHI eligible units and that do not meet other thresholds for affordable housing. Eligible units must be part of a subsidized housing development approved by a subsidizing agency and contain affordable, income restricted housing units among other requirements. However, this measure can include, under certain circumstances, market rate units that are not “affordable” if a certain percentage of affordable housing units in a rental development otherwise meet SHI eligibility criteria. Housing Navigator, which receives support from EOHLC and the other state subsidizing housing agencies, is another source of information on affordable housing units. Housing Navigator lists affordable, income restricted units for rent and also distinguishes units with a fixed rent vs rent based on individual household income.
Income restricted homes are created in a variety of ways: federal and state subsidies, federal and state low-income housing tax credits, municipal funding, and private sources. All these funding streams include varying restrictions on the length of time the unit maintains an affordability restriction. When those restrictions expire, homes can be sold or rented at market rates, unless the development is refinanced or resyndicated, which would prompt new affordability restrictions.
Units are generally targeted to households meeting specific income levels, such as 50% or 80% of the Area Median income. In some cases, very low or extremely low-income households use a mobile voucher to afford a unit restricted to 60-80% AMI. The voucher makes up the difference between 30% of the household income and the rent, limited to a payment standard set for a geographical area. The voucher program allows recipients to access at a lower cost than they would find in the open market while effectively “deepening” the affordability of low/moderate income developments. Linking project-based vouchers with these development projects makes it possible to meet the EOHLC Qualified Allocation Plan goal of setting aside a minimum percentage of the units for households with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income and to achieve the same outcomes for the other EOHLC-funded development programs.