How can Mass. make housing more affordable? State official describes Healey's plan

CONCORD — State Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus Jr. is touting Gov. Maura Healey's Affordable Housing Act as a way to help low- to middle-income earners find a place to live in MetroWest and elsewhere, as well as provide other solutions to Massachusetts' housing crisis.

In a visit with several Gannett multimedia journalists at the company's Concord office, Augustus said the $4.1 billion bill is designed to increase housing production and for the state to invest in livable communities.

One element of the plan could be a policy initiative that allows cities and towns to make inclusionary zoning rule changes with a simple majority. Augustus said inclusionary zoning can increase opportunities for production and preservation statewide.

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Inclusionary zoning refers to ordinances that require a certain percentage of housing units in a new housing development (such as an apartment complex) to be designated for affordable housing. In Framingham, for instance, the City Council voted earlier this year to raise the minimum percentage of affordable housing units on future multi-unit housing proposals from 10% to 13%.

"Ten percent, 15%, 20% (of units) would be affordable, then all of the state's programs, with the exception of HDIP (Housing Development Incentive Program), are designed to create affordable housing," Augustus said.

Augustus said the new zoning changes, along with the Affordable Homes Act overall, target moderate- and low-income individuals and focus on "buying affordability, creating new units and affordability, preserving public housing and our other supportive units for the most vulnerable part of our population."

Augustus talks state shelters and migrants

Augustus, who served as Worcester's city manager from 2014-22, also discussed the state's rising homeless population, saying that seeing people stuck in shelters is due to a lack of available permanent housing.

"Shelter is supposed to be brief and temporary," he said. "You want to keep people safe, keep people housed and out of the elements, but you want to ultimately get them into permanent housing that's appropriate for them so they can get on with their lives."

Augustus also discussed the new arrivals of migrants, something MetroWest is no stranger to. Haitian migrants began arriving in Framingham, Marlborough and Northborough in late July, and since then, municipal and state officials have scrambled to provide resources.

"Let me just be clear about that: They're doing what anybody in Massachusetts would do, if they were faced with the same circumstances," Augustus said. "They're coming here, looking for an opportunity and they want to work. That's why the governor's been so aggressive with the federal administration about expediting work authorizations."

The state is hoping to provide expanded shelter capacity, while aggressively working on more permanent housing solutions, he said.

New $4.1 billion to create more affordable housing

The new bill sets aside $1.6 billion for public housing, including $150 million for projects to decarbonize the public housing stock, $100 million for public housing and $15 million for accessibility.

Other funding includes $800 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, including $50 million for MassDreams to create first-time homebuyer opportunities for households in disproportionately impacted communities; $175 million for the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program, funding municipal projects to encourage denser housing development; and $55 million for community-based housing, an initiative to support appropriate housing for people with disabilities who are not clients of the Department of Mental Health and Department of Developmental Services.

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The bill also supports accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as of right statewide, similar to what the Framingham City Council passed in October. ADUs are referred to as “in-law apartments,” due to their common use as homes for older family members who may have difficulty alone but also desire independent space.

The permitting of ADUs has been a long road in Framingham, but it now joins surrounding communities like Sudbury, Wayland and Southborough in allowing for ADU construction.

Along with the funding and policy initiatives, Healey's bill also includes tax credits and three executive orders to create a Housing Advisory Council, unlock housing production commission and to identify surplus public land for housing.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: MA Housing Secretary Augustus touts Healey's Affordable Housing Act