Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Friday the city will direct $60 million of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to affordable housing in the city, by making 150 city-owned lots available for developers and by funding financial assistance programs. Wu told Boston Public Radio more than 300 homes for income-restricted buyers would be able to be built on those lots.
“Our federal dollars are being put to work right directly for that. At a time when many other cities are still trying to figure out what to do with all their recovery dollars, we’ve said housing is a priority,” Wu told Boston Public Radio on Friday, just after making the announcement in Mattapan.
Earlier this year, the Boston Planning and Development Agency completed a survey of all city-owned property to find an inventory of vacant or under-utilized land that could be developed into affordable housing. Many of the parcels are in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan. Wu says the money will be used to subsidize the homes themselves and three financial assistance programs for prospective homebuyers.
According to a press release from the city, Boston will issue a request for proposals for the first 70 parcels in early 2023 to create homes for residents to own. Additionally, some of the federal money will be used to bolster first-time homebuyer programs.
"We're also creating a pathway for residents of the Boston Housing Authority publicily subsizied housing to go directly from subsidized housing to home ownership, skipping through the gauntlet of can you find a place to rent, can you then save up enough to have a downpayment," she said. "We're doing everything we can to stabilize residents."
Wu also told Boston Public Radio she has not yet spoken to Governor-elect Maura Healey about rent control — or any other policy proposals — since the election, but that the city is moving forward with a Boston-specific rent control proposal to bring to the state Legislature in the new year.
Healey has said she does not support a statewide rent control measure, but has so far left the door open to local options, like what Wu is proposing for Boston.
"Rent stabilization has a bunch of different variables," Wu continued. "Is there any sort of cap? What is capped? Is it the rate of growth, is it the level of rent, are there exceptions for new construction, for a certain period of years? Those are all the fine-grain details. But we plan to have legislation to send up for the new legislative session come January.”
