Housing News

On January 13th, the Baker-Polito Administration made updates to include residents and staff of public & private low income and affordable senior housing as a priority group in the Phase 2 (tier 1) COVID-19 vaccine distribution. This would ensure that seniors with low-income, who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, will be vaccinated early on in the vaccine distribution process.

On January 14, 2021, Governor Baker signed economic development legislation (H.5250) into law, which contained many of CHAPA's housing priorities, including:

The Baker-Polito launched an interactive Eviction Diversion Initiative Dashboard to provide monthly summary statistics about the Massachusetts COVID-19 Eviction Diversion Initiative. The dashboard can be used to view statistics and information for each of the Eviction Diversion Initiative programs.

In response to the unprecedented volume of applications for emergency rental assistance, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has announced changes to improve the RAFT and Emergency Mortgage and Rental Assistance (ERMA) programs.

In the early morning of January 6, the Legislature sent its final Economic Development bill (H.5250) to the Governor.

In the early hours of January 6, the Legislature sent its final Economic Development bill (H.5250) to the Governor. The bill includes many transformative housing policies that CHAPA and our membership have advocated for, including Housing Choice, zoning for multi-family housing in MBTA communities, and other provisions that will allow more Massachusetts residents to find and stay in affordable homes in communities of their choose.

In November 2020, the Baker-Polito Administration, MassHousing, Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association (CHAPA), and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Organizations (MACDC) announced a five-point Eviction Diversion Pledge, a commitment from Massachusetts property owners and operators to working with tenants facing financial difficulties because of the pandemic and supporting housing stability during the ongoing fight against the spread of COVID-19.

On behalf of Jennifer Gilbert and the trustees and partners, the Kuehn Foundation is pleased to announce that the foundation will recruit another cohort of Fellows for its two-year practice-based, paid fellowship. The Kuehn Fellowship is open to recent masters or professional level graduates for whom it provides a distinctive entre into the world of affordable housing and community development. 

Governor Baker signed into law Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2020 on December 31, 2020, that establishes certain eviction protections and related policy changes. These provisions can help tenants better navigate through the complexities of eviction proceedings and help increase awareness of existing housing payment programs.

There are only a few days left for the Legislature to pass the Economic Development Bill with zoning reforms that will help create more homes in Massachusetts!  Please call or email your State Representative and Senator TODAY to ask them to speak with House Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka about including zoning reform in the Economic Development Bill!