Housing Headlines

The federal government has rolled out a new program called Faircloth-to-RAD, which allows housing authorities to build more units by attracting investment through the conversion of public housing subsidies to Section 8 subsidies. RAD - short for Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) - has been in place since the Obama Administration but the new twist is housing authorities can now exceed caps set forth in the 1998 Faircloth Amendment, which prohibited the federal government from expanding its public housing stock.

WORCESTER --- At a recent housing forum hosted by state Rep. David LeBoeuf, local leaders heard an array of examples of how expensive the Worcester housing market is, like a plethora of cash buyers who are causing no-fault evictions of existing tenants. Local leaders also heard and discussed several ideas on how to address the crisis, from looking at rent control to tax credits for owners who sell to first-time buyers to using federal recovery act funds to address the crisis, as Gov. Baker has proposed for the Commonwealth.

In an opinion piece for Commonwealth Magazine, two nonprofit leaders 2 charged with helping state deliver rent assistance address "myths" about slow spending, long application process, denial rates & poor outreach. In setting up their myth-busting argument, Stefanie Coxe of the Regional Housing Network and Chris Norris of Metro Housing Boston note that Massachusetts is fourth in the US in rent assistance spending and has helped over 40,000 households avoid eviction.

NEWTON --- The Newton City Council voted 23-0 to approve some changes to the Riverside MBTA station mixed-use development proposal that it approved last year. The changes include substituting two life science buildings for a hotel and office tower. The number of apartments will drop from 582 to 550, 44 of which will be affordable to households earning 50 percent of area median income and 44 for households at 80 percent AMI. The project includes almost $9 million in community improvements for schools, neighborhoods, walking trails and sewers.

SALISBURY --- Two state legislators have field a petition on behalf of the town that would transfer a little more than a half an acre of land to the town's affordable housing trust. State Rep. Jim Kelcourse & state Sen. Diana DiZoglio filed the petition, which would, if approved, would convey the land to the trust so it can decide how to use it to increase the town's supply of affordable housing.

LYNN --- It took five years but it looks like the City of Lynn has finally found someone to redevelop the Thurgood Marshall Middle School as the School Committee has voted to convey it to the city to it can be sold to the East Boston Community Development Corp. According to the agreement, the CDC would pay the city $2.5 million to the city and spend $8 million demolishing the school so it can build affordable senior housing.