Public housing is an invaluable asset in Massachusetts that supports many of our most vulnerable residents, specifically low-income older adults, families and people with a disability across over 230 cities and towns. Public housing includes a variety of housing types such as family housing in large developments, elderly housing ranging from motel-style campuses to high-rises, group homes serving DMH & DDS clients, and scattered site single family homes and duplexes. Massachusetts is one of only four states to provide state-funded public housing and does not solely rely on federal public housing units. Both state and federal public housing units are overseen at the municipal government level through local housing authorities (LHAs). Massachusetts provides the most public housing per capita with approximately 30,000 federally supported public housing units in addition to 41,500 state funded units.
Public housing in Massachusetts experienced a boom in development in Massachusetts starting in 1948 as a response to the post-war affordable housing crisis for returning veterans. This critical housing resource was primarily built between 1948 to 1956 through large scale public investments of capital funding that focused on common templates to ensure scale. However, these templates often had common design issues, and though many of these units are still serviceable, they have faced significant deterioration over time that has outpaced the capital investments provided to modernize these units. The state and federal governments also funded a large tranche of public housing development from ~1960 to 1985 serving the elderly, but similarly these buildings are significantly aged and often lack accessibility and other features to support aging-in-place.
The Commonwealth and federal government have tried to revitalize public housing through increased capital funding and redevelopment programs including the HOPE and RAD/REstore-Rebuild programs on the federal side and the state Public Housing Innovations Program. Harbor Point was a successful and nation-leading transformation, followed up by many redevelopments of federal housing including Old Colony in Boston and Lyman Terrace in Holyoke. On the state side, major redevelopments include Orient Heights in Boston, Innes Apartments in Chelsea, and Lee Fort Terrace in Salem. While these redevelopments transformed neighborhoods and added needed units by bringing in many sources of public and private funding, the supply of funds does not meet demand, and most state and federal funding goes to maintaining aging buildings. The current capital backlog across the state-aided public housing portfolio is approximately $4 billion, compared to FY25 capital funding of $157M. This backlog, in combination with factors including staffing capacity (state public housing subsidy lags federal public housing operating support) across LHAs and challenges of the centralized public housing waitlist implemented in 2019, has resulted in approximately 2,150 (5%) public housing units being vacant as of January 16, 2025, despite a waitlist of over 200,000 people. This is comparable to industry standards but not good enough considering the demand for rental housing.
| Program | # Units |
|---|---|
| Family | 12,787 |
| Elderly/Non Elderly Disabled | 28,721 |
| Group Home (Approximate) | 1,850 |
| State-Aided PH Demographics 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Family | Elderly | |
| Average Income | $29,859 | $21,593 |
| Median Income | $23,960 | $18,600 |
| HoH Employed | 47% | 16% |
| HH Member Disability | 26% | 31% |
| HoH White | 65% | 77% |
| HoH Latino | 35% | 9% |
| Average Family size | 2.8 | 1% |
The legislature mandated a statewide application system for state-aided public housing as part of the Public Housing Reform legislation in 2014. -DHCD established the Common Housing Application for Massachusetts Programs (CHAMP) pursuant to this legislation and went live in April 2019, fundamentally changing the LHA application process. Instead of an applicant having to appear in person or mail an application to each LHA, who would manage their own waitlist subject to state regulation but with minimal oversight, CHAMP now provides all applications through a single portal. Unfortunately, CHAMP’s effectiveness has been hindered by multiple challenges, principally the huge volume of applications and prioritization claims while leaving most tasks in the hands of individual LHAs. The implementation of centralized emergency priority screening has addressed many of these challenges. EOHLC, in partnership with the legislature and LHAs, has identified additional steps to improve access and equity.