On October 17, CHAPA, along with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, delivered a sign-on letter to legislators and the Baker Administration advocating for ending the notice to quit requirement in the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) emergency rental assistance program. 167 organizations joined the letter asking to stop the harmful requirement.
Housing News
October 17, 2022
October 4, 2022
Please Sign-On Your Organization to Improve Access to RAFT
On August 1, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) made changes to Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program reinstating a requirement of Notice to Quit (NTQ) for households applying for assistance with rent arrears.
September 26, 2022
Close to 250 advocates, neighbors, municipal employees, organizational representatives, and legislators working on affordable housing in their communities joined us on Thursday, September 22nd for our Annual Regional Meeting.
September 12, 2022
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
September 12, 2022
On September 12, CHAPA, along with Department of Housing and Community Development and 21 industry, non-profit and state partners, submitted an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Terrence Marengi v. 6 Forest Road, LLC (“Marengi”) in support of a ruling of the Superior Court, as affirmed by the Appeals Court, applying recently enacted abutter appeal reform provisions to comprehensive permit cases.
September 9, 2022
After the success of affordable rental search website, Housing Navigator’s first year, MyMassHome launches today as the homeownership component in a suite of tools for hopeful affordable, accessible homebuyers. MyMassHome is a free website that serves as a one-stop portal with connections to all the resources homebuyers with low, moderate, and fixed incomes in Massachusetts need.
September 8, 2022
On September 6, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released a Winter 2023 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the affordable housing competition rental round.
DHCD will make resources available from the state and federal low income housing tax credit; American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) rental funds; HOME; National Housing Trust Fund; Affordable Housing Trust Fund and other housing capital resources; and federal and state project-based vouchers.
September 1, 2022
On September 1, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for FY2023. Published annually, FMRs are an estimate of the amount of money that would cover gross rents (rent and utilities) on 40% of the rental housing in a regional area.
August 12, 2022
CHAPA is pleased to see that the final MBTA multi-family zoning guidelines issued by the Baker Administration put the Commonwealth on the path to achieving our state’s housing goals. This is the most significant change to zoning in more than 40 years and will make it possible to create the homes people need, support local businesses, reduce car dependency, and help stabilize rents and home prices that have been rising faster than people’s incomes.
August 11, 2022
Slides with Overview of Final Guidelines for MBTA Communities