Housing Headlines

ARLINGTON --- With only 5.64 percent of its housing considered affordable and faced with a 219-unit Ch. 40B proposal it doesn't want, the Town of Arlington has hired a law firm to explore whether the town can block the project by determining if it meets the requirement of having affordable housing on 1.5 percent of its buildable land.

MEDWAY --- Selectmen have voted to send a 10-page letter to the state voicing its concerns over a developer's proposal to build 76 homes and 116 condos on land owned by former resident Henry Wickett. Prior to the development proposal by Timber Crest LLC, Wickett had offered the land to the town several times but the town never moved forward on the deal, citing wetland concerns.

IPSWICH --- With rents in town averaging $1,500 a month for a two-bedroom, Ipswich Housing Coordinator Terry Anderson agrees there's a crisis in terms of affordability while a local realtor says short supply in the rental market is being further exacerbated by prospective buyers who can't find a home and are still renting.

EASTON --- Despite having local funding tools like the Community Preservation Act and a local housing trust in place, Easton officials are still worried about the town's ability to provide affordable housing for families making around $50,000 per year.

HOLBROOK --- Despite being one of about 50 communities in the state to have more than 10 percent of its housing considered affordable by the state, the Holbrook Housing Authority reports long waiting lists for senior, disabled and family housing.

TAUNTON --- The City Council has voted 8-0 in favor of the Downtown Taunton Foundation's request to convert its School Street Lofts ground floor commercial space into apartments after the nonprofit developer failed to find commercial tenants. DTF bought the 15 School St. property - formerly a bar - in 2013 and rehabbed the second floor into two affordable apartments which are now occupied. Having failed to find a commercial tenant, the council vote clears the way for DTF to do the same thing on the ground floor.