Housing Headlines

NANTUCKET --- Town meeting voters approved a $6.5 million permanent tax override to fund affordable-housing initiatives by a wide margin. This in the wake of the island’s real estate boom and deepening housing crisis.

STATE -- About a dozen cities and towns are asking state lawmakers for permission to impose a local transfer tax on the sale of real estate to raise revenue for affordable housing. Proposals have failed in the past and faced stiff opposition from the real estate industry, but with a new governor in office and heightened urgency, advocates say momentum and optimism are on the increase.

BOSTON --- Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson has proposed halting plans for housing designated for low-income households for at least three months. Pointing to a history of redlining and displacement in Roxbury, Fernandes Anderson said the community needs “conversations about the repercussions of not atoning for harms.” She said that while she is in favor of affordable housing, she is frustrated with the current development process.

NANTUCKET --- A bumper sticker delivered anonymously to the Town & County Building in Nantucket reads, "If you want affordable housing, move to Cape Cod where you belong." An infuriated Select Board Chair Jason Bridges read the bumper sticker at a recent board meeting and called it insensitive. Since the pandemic, Nantucket's housing crisis has only deepened as the island's real estate market has boomed. This weekend, island voters will consider a permanent $6.5 million annual tax override for affordable housing projects to continue.

WORCESTER --- On May 1 the Worcester Zoning Board of Appeals will consider a developer's proposal to convert a vacant lot on Mason Street into a 7-story building with 84 units of affordable housing, a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, including 66 parking spaces. On April 11, the City Council approved an inclusionary zoning ordinance that would designate a certain number of units in new construction as affordable.

WORCESTER --- After four votes, a rally, and heartfelt public comment, Worcester City Council passed an inclusionary zoning ordinance that strengthens the city's original proposal but falls short for affordable housing advocates. The city proposed developers of more than 12-unit projects set aside 15% of square footage at 80% of area median income or 10% of square footage at 60% AMI, and capped rent and sale prices for an affordable housing unit to no more than fair market rent or 30% of the qualifying family’s income.