Every home lost to natural hazards, seasonal use, short term rental, or disrepair further depletes our supply and worsens the shortage. The loss of existing homes – especially affordable ones – is disruptive to communities. Protecting existing homes and affordability requires acting well in advance of natural disasters, speculative acquisition, rent hikes, expiration of deed restrictions, or demolition by neglect.
Preserving homes will take more than just money. It also requires innovative approaches to resilient retrofits of existing homes, speedier and less expensive pathways for public housing improvements, public private partnerships for refinancing and repositioning our public and affordable housing stock. Difficult decisions about rebuilding and shoreline retreat will have to be made in the not-too-distant future.
Repair, rehabilitate, and reposition the State’s public housing portfolio
The Affordable Homes Act authorized $2.2 billion for the repair, rehabilitation and modernization of over 43,000 state-aided public housing units across the Commonwealth, including $150 million dedicated to the decarbonization of public housing and $15 million for accessibility upgrades. With the resources made available through this legislation EOHLC will begin to tackle the existing capital maintenance backlog in Public Housing. Adequate funding is only one piece of the puzzle. Streamlining the design and procurement of capital improvements is needed to make every dollar go further. This includes reviewing the impact of public construction procurement law on the cost of public housing capital contracts. In addition, EOHLC has been advancing major redevelopment projects of public housing where public-private partnerships bring private capital to the table and guarantee long-term affordability.
In addition to the Commonwealth’s state-aided public housing portfolio, there are approximately 30,000 federally-funded public housing units in the state. While currently somewhat better-funded than the state portfolio, they face similar challenges with capital needs and public procurement and now face an uncertain funding and regulatory outlook.
Provide financial support and technical assistance for decarbonizing affordable housing
EOHLC believes that efficiency, resilience, decarbonization, and affordability can be complementary goals. Technical assistance and financing for affordable housing decarbonization programs are administered through EOHLC, the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, MHP, CEDAC, and DOER. EOHLC’s climate ready housing program, DOER’s affordable housing decarbonization program, and EOHLC’s public housing sustainability program are key sources of multi-family building energy retrofits when combined with other incentives like the Mass Save Income Eligible programs. In addition, low- or no interest financing products through the Climate Bank, MHP, and Mass Save provide upfront capital to cover the up-front costs of retrofits and incremental costs of building to the highest efficiency standard, Passive House. With Massachusetts’ strong energy codes, the commitment to green and sustainable design and construction in the QAP and in public housing design guidelines, affordable housing can lead efforts to help meet the Commonwealth’s 2050 goal for net zero green house gas emissions.
Build well-informed resiliency considerations into community planning, housing development, and preservation initiatives
Municipalities, regions, and the state must create a clearer pathway to a resilient future by taking into account current and projected hazards and risks due to climate change. Working with EEA, the Resilient Mass and Resilient Coasts initiatives and the Office of Climate Science, EOHLC should work to better communicate risks and hazards and incorporate this information into planning, funding, and policy considerations for housing production and community development investments. This would mean taking into account hazards more intentionally at the local and state level when considering housing or community investments and creating new initiatives that invest in adaptive measures. In addition, the state and municipalities must consider seriously the option of relocation or retreat from the areas of highest vulnerability.
Preserve homes with expiring affordability restrictions
EOHLC already leverages its housing development resources to recapitalize and refinance affordable properties at the end of their affordability restrictions. EOHLC and partners in the development and real estate industry should examine additional tools and resources to discourage market rate conversion and incentivize continued affordability.
Invest in improving accessibility, availability, and affordability of existing homes
The impact of new housing production is limited if our existing housing remains unaffordable or inaccessible. Within the QAP, EOHLC has prioritized the need to increase the supply of rental units available to very low income and extremely low income households—including those transitioning out of homelessness. Furthermore, the QAP recognizes this must be done in a manner that prioritizes the preservation of existing affordable housing to extend the affordability of these units. EOHLC looks forward to working with the Commissions on Accessible and Extremely Low Income Housing that were created under the Affordable Homes Act to identify other ways to bolster these efforts.
Bring more vacant, distressed, and underutilized housing back online
Neighborhood Stabilization Programs funded by HUD and by EOHLC were successful in bringing thousands of vacant and blighted homes up to code and back into the available housing stock. EOHLC continues this work through our partners at MassHousing to fund renovations of unsafe housing stock. . This may include blighted and distressed properties, as well as habitable properties that are kept vacant for financial, personal, or legal reasons. In partnership with local housing authorities, EOHLC will also continue to make progress in rehabilitating all distressed public housing currently offline.
Develop new strategies to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing
Investor acquisition and corporate ownership of naturally occurring multifamily rental properties is associated with rent increases and evictions. In order to slow this process, flexible capital sources and legal tools should be made available to individuals, nonprofits, or municipalities so they can move quickly, compete with cash buyers, and preserve affordability when below-market properties are put up for sale. EOHLC will continue to investigate other strategies such as tenant right of first refusal or a ‘flip tax’ levied on quick sales, either of which might slow investor acquisition of naturally occurring affordable assets.