Housing Headlines

CHELMSFORD --- By a 3-1 vote, selectman OK'd a proposal in which the town would move to buy land on Littleton Road and then have the housing authority develop it into 115 units of affordable rental housing. The proposal now needs the approval of town meeting.

PLYMOUTH --- The town's housing authority director continues to spar with Simon Properties over resident incomes at Pontus Meadows and how many residents will experience much higher rents on May 1 when the owners raise rents after pre-paying their 40-year federal mortgage, which allows them to convert the affordable housing development into market-rate housing.

WEYMOUTH - The Weymouth Housing Authority could take over administrative oversight of its counterpart in Hull under a proposal being considered by the Weymouth public housing board of commissioners. The Hull authority, which has been managed by consultants after a state audit led to the firing of its executive director in 2006, picked Weymouth after soliciting interest from other towns. Weymouth manages 475 public housing apartments while Hull has 68.

CHELSEA --- A local family's legal battle to negotiate a more modest rent increase from its new landlord is an example of recent clashes between existing apartment dwellers and Boston-area real estate investors who are buying foreclosed properties and raising rents to cover acquisition and/or repair costs.

WALPOLE - The 174-unit apartment complex proposed for Moosehill Road would designate a quarter of its units as affordable and wouldn't include any three-bedroom units that could attract children, a spokesman for Framingham-based Barberry Homes told Walpole officials recently.

CHELMSFORD --- With a purchase and sale agreement for a Littleton Road property in place, Chelmsford Housing Authority Executive Director David Hedison recently told selectmen of plans to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit so it can build 115 units of affordable housing in a new development that is being called Chelmsford Woods.