On August 6th, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into the law House Bill No. 4977, known as The Affordable Homes Act (the “Act”), considered to be the most ambitious housing investment legislation in the Commonwealth's history. The Act authorizes $5.16 billion in spending over the next five years along with 49 policy initiatives to address rising housing costs brought on by the combination of high demand with limited supply. In addition to the substantial investment in modernizing the state's housing system, the Act and its related policy changes will lessen impediments to build accessory dwelling units, fortify programs supporting first-time homebuyers and will incentivize building more housing for low to moderate-income residents.
In an attempt to modernize the state's housing system, the Act, among other things, authorizes: (i) $800 million into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which assists in the creation and preservation of affordable housing for households earning less than 100% of area medium income (“AMI”); (ii) $425 million to support new construction and rehabilitation projects through the Housing Stabilization and Investment Trust Fund; and (iii) $100 million for the Middle-Income Housing Fund (administered by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) to fund housing developments for households earning less than 120% of AMI.
In addition to the substantial level of spending authorizations, the Act amends Mass. Gen. Laws 40A § 3 to allow the building of accessory dwelling units under 900 square feet on single-family lots without local zoning approval. Commonly known as “In-Law Apartments,” accessory dwelling units can be attached or detached from a single-family home. They often take shape as a basement or attic conversion, a cottage in a backyard or an addition to a home. The statutory change authorized by the Act replaces the patchwork of inconsistent zoning regulations across the Commonwealth with a uniform law allowing single-family homeowners to construct a small unit on their property without the need for a zoning variance.
The Act is using $50 million to establish a permanent, revolving fund entitled the Residential Production Momentum Fund (the “RPMF”) to accelerate mixed-income and workforce multifamily housing projects. The RPMF will provide financial assistance in the form of debt, equity, or other instruments to projects building units targeting households with incomes between 60% and 120% of AMI. The legislation charges the RPMF to prioritize projects that include, among other things, energy efficient measures, lower embodied carbon construction materials and climate-resilient elements.
The Affordable Homes Act is part of Governor Healey's ambitious affordable housing strategy which dovetails with her July 2nd announcement of $27 million in Housing Development Incentive Program tax credit awards targeting Massachusetts “Gateway Cities” with smaller populations and households with lower AMIs than the rest of the state.
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