Williamstown Housing Trust Exploring New Ideas
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Facing the prospect of an infusion of cash at a time of low demand for its popular DeMayo Mortgage Assistance Program, the board of the Affordable Housing Trust last week brainstormed about new initiatives it could pursue in fiscal year 2024.
Chair Andrew Hogeland noted at the outset of the April 19 meeting that the trust is in line to receive a little more than $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and $120,000 in Community Preservation Act funds if the former allocation is approved by next month's annual town meeting.
The trust began April with a balance of just more than $203,000.
"If all that [anticipated funding] goes through, we'll have over $500,000, the kind of money you can actually do something with," Hogeland said. "In terms of bigger ticket items, in the past we have bought the Summer Street property, the Cole and Maple properties — that was a significant, at the time, capital investment.
"We have done mortgage assistance programs, a rental assistance program. Do you want to continue to do these things? Are there things in these documents that have inspired you to do new things?"
The board looked at materials from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership detailing other programs that housing trusts have implemented around the commonwealth.
As for the two parcels that Hogeland referenced, they already have yielded one occupied single family home with a second nearing completion at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street. Those homes were built by Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, which was the sole respondent to a Request for Proposals the trust issued for developers on both of its residential sites.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trustees created an emergency rental assistance program and an emergency mortgage assistance program to help residents affected by the economic downturn stay in their homes. Those programs are administered by Berkshire Housing Development Corporation, which has not recently sought infusions of cash from the Housing Trust to replenish either program.
And it has been months since the trust has seen an applicant for the DeMayo MAP, which is designed to help first-time homebuyers or individuals displaced due to the loss of a job who meet income requirements.
"I've been in touch with Greylock Federal Credit Union a while ago to find out why we're not getting applications," Hogeland said. "The response was the housing market here is slow. No one is applying for mortgages.
"I think there's a subtheme there that the houses that might be available are more expensive than could be supported by our contribution. I don't know why Berkshire Housing hasn't been knocking on our door for more rental assistance funding."
Trustee Robin Malloy speculated that there may be residents who still need emergency assistance paying rent or making mortgage payments but do not think to apply for help through BHDC.
"I wonder if there are people who have an immediate emergent need who don't necessarily know about Berkshire Housing and think they'll just muddle through it," Malloy said.
Trustee Thomas Sheldon reinforced the notion that there are immediate needs out there.
"We have received a few inquiries from people in desperate straits in other parts of the state," he said. "There has to be some sort of registry that lists housing agencies or programs. Unfortunately, we're not able to help them at all."
The emergency rental and mortgage assistance programs, like all the Affordable Housing Trust initiatives, are funded by town funds (mostly CPA money and, more recently, ARPA funding), and the AHT's programs only can benefit town residents.
Last week, the trustees started initial conversations about other ways to put those funds to work either by making Williamstown accessible to new residents or by helping current residents stay in their homes.
In the latter vein, they discussed programs that might help homeowners make needed repairs, like fixing a leaky roof, or make energy efficiency upgrades to lower their overall housing cost.
In the former, they talked about following models in other communities that allow higher grants for income eligible homebuyers or pursuing partnerships with homebuilders that might have more capacity than the non-profit Habitat for Humanity, which relies on volunteer labor for much of the work.
"You may not be teaming with a specialty organization [like Habitat] but a regular construction company and convincing them that if we help them buy the land or help them sell units that they do so at a discounted rate," Hogeland said. "Not like a non-profit but maybe just less profit. We need a partner to do that."
Where that land might be remains a big question.
Hogeland reminded his colleagues last week that in the summer of 2022 the Trust did issue an RFP for landowners interested in selling buildable parcels to the town body and got, "one very lukewarm submission."
In the meantime, there is a prospect for the trust to receive some applications in the near future or grants under the existing DeMayo MAP.
The developer looking to build modular homes on the former Grange property on Water Street has included four units that will be classified as affordable housing with purchase prices around $180,000. When those units are built, the prospective buyers might be candidates to apply for mortgage assistance grants from the AHT, Hogeland said.
Even if all four of those homes come to fruition in the near future and all four homebuyers seek DeMayo MAP grants, which have a maximum of $15,000 per recipient, the trustees still will have the opportunity to find new ways to support housing opportunities in town.
"This is a pile of ideas," Hogeland said, referencing the Mass Housng Partnership guide. "Anyone who has the imagination to dig into it, please do."
Tags: affordable housing, affordable housing trust,
