Your Daughter, Your Colleague, Your Father, Your Friend All Need 40B
It was a lovely day in mid February, yes I said lovely. It was 55° and I was taking full advantage of that strange occurrence and meeting a recent homebuyer for coffee downtown. What a treat it is to welcome a new friend and neighbor to Andover especially when you know how long and hard they have been working to be able to buy a home in our community.
Rissy had been looking for a home in the region for many years. Like the many folks I hear from, Rissy was renting an apartment in Lawrence and looking to purchase an affordable home in the area. With her two children grown and in homes of their own, Rissy wanted to find a place the right size for herself and her mother. Rissy knew that she could actually pay less in mortgage and taxes than what she was paying in rent. At the same time, she could be building equity for herself.
Most of the people who contact ACT looking for a home have a steady job but just don’t make enough to purchase one at market rate, especially in Andover where the average price for a single family home has risen to more than $600,000. Affordability has been a long time problem for very low income renters. As house prices soar, now middle-income households are facing greater challenges throughout Massachusetts. Not enough housing is being built to sustain the strong labor market.
Since the 1970s, the Massachusetts state statute, Chapter 40B, has been used to increase housing production throughout the state. Chapter 40B enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions. The flexible rules allow for a streamlined review process, with all state regulations, such as the Wetlands Protection Act, Title 5, and all building codes, remaining fully in effect. For instance, a developer might request a project with greater density than the zoning bylaws allow, thereby making it a financially feasible project. In exchange, the town could require 20% of the units be price restricted. Importantly, Chapter 40B regulations limit a developer’s profit margin for the entire project. For example Andover’s Coachman’s Ridge was permitted in 2002 under Chapter 40B and 80 units were built. As such Coachman’s Ridge is sometimes referred to as a 40B development. Sixty of these units were built and sold at market rate and 20 were built and sold as price-restricted units. Without Chapter 40B, only local zoning laws would have applied. Under those laws, the development would have created around 10 housing units. Instead, Rissy and many, many more residents have benefited from the additional units for over 20 years now– both the affordable units and the market rate homes!
Chapter 40B is one of the state’s most successful affordable housing production tools with over 70,000 homes created in the state. However, in order for the Massachusetts economy to continue to grow, we will continue to need more housing. In Massachusetts we are currently in crisis as the lack of housing and housing production contributes to the Commonwealth’s inability to attract business and grow economically. For more in depth information on housing and housing policy check out Mass Housing Partnership’s Center for Housing Data, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the Massachusetts Office of Housing and Economic Development.
Whether your colleague is relocating to the region and looking for a family home, your daughter is looking for her first home in town and needs an affordable option, your father is downsizing and looking for a smaller place to rent or the friend you just met needs a place for her mom and herself, there is a huge need for housing in town. Chapter 40B continues to be an effective building tool to help Andover and other Massachusetts towns meet the housing need. Rissy found her forever home in a 40B development in Andover, and I’m looking forward to meeting her often as we explore the great things about Andover.
