By Bob Katzen
Heading Home, Inc., a nonprofit provider of shelter, housing and support services for families and individuals, announced it is actively seeking to acquire a property to test what it calls “an innovative, scalable affordable housing solution for working-class families across Massachusetts.”
Requirements for the lot include approximately one-half acre of buildable land, ideally located in a by-right zoning district in Eastern Massachusetts. Heading Home plans to build a 6-to-12-unit modular structure on the property consisting of 2- and 3-bedroom apartments. The organization expects to rent the units for $1,500 to $2,200 per month to households earning between $58,000 and $115,000 annually or 50% to 80% of Area Median Income.
Supporters explained that Heading Home is testing a model designed to work where the market and the subsidy system don’t. The project will utilize a Massachusetts-based turnkey modular builder to reduce construction timelines and lower construction costs — an efficient, cost-effective model that can be replicated across other communities. Financing for the pilot will include philanthropic donations, low-interest lending and private financing. Once the model has been tested and demonstrated to be financially sustainable, Heading Home plans to expand the initiative and continue developing additional housing using this self-sustaining approach.
They noted that Massachusetts continues to face a severe housing affordability crisis. In Greater Boston, a household now needs to earn close to $200,000 annually to afford a median-priced home in the region, or at least $120,000 per year to afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the suburbs. The average two-bedroom apartment in Boston and Cambridge rents for $4,300 per month, and around $3,000 per month in the suburbs.
“The state’s affordable housing system currently serves only about 32 percent of eligible households,” said Danielle Ferrier, CEO of Heading Home. “The sector has spent decades prioritizing its resources for families in the lowest income brackets, while most for-profit developers are focused on their bottom line. The result is housing that’s cost-prohibitive to a large share of the state’s workforce. Many are forced to live paycheck to paycheck, struggling to cover the most basic costs of housing and food. That’s just not acceptable.”