Housing Headlines

DENNIS --- On May 15, the Baker-Polito Administration came to the Cape to announce nearly $8 million in funding to support the creation of almost 100 units of supportive housing in seven developments. The funding includes 5.5 million in state funding, 28 project-based state housing vouchers, and will leverage $2.5 million from the National Housing Trust Fund. The developments are located in Dennis, Holyoke, Northampton, Pittsfield, Quincy, Wareham/Sandwich and Worcester.

HAVERHILL --- Analysis done for Haverhill's soon-to-be-released housing plan shows that the city had the second lowest housing growth rate in the region, and that 39 percent of the population is cost-burdened, even though the city's rents are lower than other communities. In its favor, 10 percent of homeowners in the city are 25 to 34, compared to 7 percent across the region, a stat that caused Mayor James Fiorentini to express the need for more single-family home construction.

BARNSTABLE --- In an effort to put distressed properties back on the tax roles, the Town of Barnstable has sold 23 tax-foreclosed properties for a total of approximately $500,000. Prices ranged from $150,000 for a .36 acre lot in Cotuit to $500 for a .33 acre parcel in Hyannis.

BREWSTER --- Voters at Town Meeting took two steps toward increasing its supply of affordable housing on May 7, authorizing the creation of an affordable housing trust and voting to transfer a 15-acre town-owned parcel to the select board for community housing, with an additional restriction that the land be used for affordable housing.

WELLFLEET --- Voters at town meeting decisively shot down an article proposing to use funds to support the redevelopment of the nine acre Council on Aging site into a new town hall annex, saying that the land was too valuable and should be used for affordable housing. “This is far and away the most viable piece of land that we own in town,” said Gary Sorkin, who serves on both the housing authority and the local housing partnership. “It would be a great space for housing. In the last 25 years we have lost 62 percent of the young people in our town. We all know it’s about affordability. That’s the crux of so many of our issues.”

BOSTON --- The importance and future of Boston's historic three-deckers was the subject of a day-long conference sponsored by Historic New England last week, with much of the talk centered around the fact that prices have gone up four times faster than single-family homes since 2009, and what can be done to preserve them or create a housing alternative for the working class.