Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- In its latest analysis of state unemployment claims (May 15), the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) found that 40 percent of the unemployment claims came from three occupation types and that an estimated 15,500 unemployed still need help with basic needs and housings costs. MAPC estimates that if these households are still unemployed when CARES Act benefits end in August, the statewide assistance gap will be $195 million monthly.

BOSTON --- New research from housing advocacy group City Life / Vida Urbana and MIT found 243 evictions were filed in Boston during the period between the outbreak linked to a Biogen conference in February and the governor’s passage of a moratorium on evictions on April 20. Additionally, 78 percent of the eviction filings during that period were in census tracts where the majority of residents are people of color.

BOSTON --- Adjusting to bring quick help to Boston area nonprofits during the COVID-19 health emergency, The Boston Foundation (TBF) has awarded $1 million to Boston nonprofits through its annual Open Door Grants program. Normally awarded at the end of the year, TBF made awards to 49 nonprofits and made all grants for general operating support as opposed to targeting awards to specific programs. Among the awardees were housing nonprofits, including Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, the North Shore CDC and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing in East Boston.

NEWTON --- The Newton City Council has OK'd the use of $2 million in Community Preservation Act funds and $500,000 in Community Development Block Grants to create an emergency housing assistance program. Newton joins a growing list of communities that have OK'd local funds to help residents impacted by COVID-19 pay rent and other housings costs.

PEABODY --- Hemisphere Development Group's plan to build 133 mixed-income apartments on a 3.2 acre site has received a key approval from a state financing agency, allowing it to proceed with its application to the city for a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit. Hemisphere will proceed despite concerns from residents and Mayor Edward Bettencourt about the project's potential impact on municipal infrastructure and schools.

CHELSEA --- With over 40,000 people crammed into two square miles, Chelsea is the state's epicenter for COVID-19 and overcrowded housing is part of the picture, as New York Times reporter Ellen Barry finds cases where roommates are kicked out for testing positive and a father slept in his car to avoid infecting his children.