The following is in response to a recent article titled: "Home On Their Own: Chelmsford family shows other side of controversial housing law"
The story focuses on a particular family in Chelmsford who received some much-needed help from the ineffective law known as Chapter 40B. However, the story might leave readers with the impression that without 40B, this family would not have gotten housing assistance. The real truth is that affordable housing through Chapter 40B is incredibly ineffective and inefficient. Repealing the law would pave the way for more affordable housing, not less. The vast majority of 40B projects have an affordability percentage under 25%. If the same money were spent on projects that were 100% affordable, you would be helping 4 times as many people!
Secondly, Chapter 40B discourages redevelopment and subsidies for existing units, which would allow affordable housing dollars to go much farther than new construction. Massachusetts, and the Merrimack Valley region in particular, have thousands of existing affordable units and redevelopment opportunities, which could be used to create affordable housing without the destabilization caused by 40B construction.
Thirdly, the state should pass an Inclusionary Zoning law, requiring all new developments over a certain size to include an affordable component. This would make Chapter 40B completely unnecessary and simultaneously create more affordable housing. Even without Inclusionary Zoning, there are many affordable housing solutions other than Chapter 40B that are ignored by the state and rejected by the Chelmsford Housing Authority.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Chapter 40B helps a very small sliver of the population and an even smaller sliver of those who need help. In Chelmsford, as noted in the article, 40B projects are affordable to people making 80% of the area median income. For our region that means a family of 4 must make less than around $70,000 to qualify for a 40B unit. But the projects are built so expensively, that on average, the family has to make $63,000 to afford the mortgage. So while it may be helpful to those making between $63,000 and $70,000, it completely ignores those making less. In other words, the working poor are left completely in the cold by Chapter 40B.
The fact is that one story about a well-deserving family getting housing assistance through 40B doesn’t mean the law is working. It only emphasizes the failings in the law and shows the importance of funding affordable housing solutions that make sense instead.
Craig Chemaly, Director
Slow Growth Initiative
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