Housing Headlines

In an opinion piece for the Boston Globe, two leading Greater Boston health experts call for more affordable housing measures, arguing that stable housing is key to better public health. “Good housing can make a world of difference ..., just as a lack of housing can be devastating. In hospitals like Boston Medical Center, we see this every day,” wrote Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett and Megan Sandel, both executives at Boston Medical Center.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- As one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden called on several federal departments and agencies to extend their bans on evictions and foreclosures for those affected by the coronavirus until at least the end of March. he action seeks to extend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's federal moratorium on eviction for non-payment of rent by two more months. The CDC's order first went into effect in September and the latest stimulus bill extended the protection until January 31.

TRURO --- The town's Zoning Board of Appeals set the stage for largest-ever housing development ever to be built in the town when it OK'd a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit for a 39-unit affordable housing project for a former 3.9 acre state highway property just off the Route 6 Highland Road exit. The decision capped more than a year's worth of consideration and nearly two dozen meetings, many of which centered on resident concerns about the project's impact on groundwater.

HUDSON --- To advance the housing trust's efforts to position the former police station for affordable housing development, selectmen have OK'd a contract with a firm to do an environmental assessment. Funding for will come via a grant from MassHousing, which will pay up to $63,000 for preliminary work on the site, which will include a survey, an environmental study, demolition plan documents and any associated costs.

BOSTON --- The $627 million economic development bill signed by Charlie Baker on Jan. 14 contained significant measures to increase housing production, including his Housing Choice legislation which lowers the voting threshold for communities to pass certain zoning changes from two-thirds and simple majority. Also included in the legislation is a mandate that MBTA communities establish at least one district that allows denser housing near transit stations.

BOSTON --- The state Legislature recently OK'd a bill that gives Boston more flexibility to increase affordable housing, giving it more power to determine how much it asks residential developers to set aside for affordable housing and how often it can change rules to require commercial developers to contribute so-called linkage funds to support fund initiatives like affordable housing and job training.