Reports

The Commonwealth has spent or committed $146 million to subsidize market rate housing in Gateway Cities under the Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) and is poised to spend up to another $30 million every year indefinitely. Yet the key question about HDIP remains unanswered: why is the state spending precious resources on high-end housing? 

One such “precious resource” is the Mass. Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) which provides housing vouchers to help lower income families and individuals pay rent in the private market. In January, while thousands of households remain on the MRVP waiting list hoping for a chance to find homes they can afford and avoid homelessness, EOHLC “paused” issuance of MRVP vouchers for an unknown period of time “in response to a difficult state fiscal situation.” 

And yet, just one month before MRVP was frozen, the Healey administration announced an additional $27 million in HDIP  credit awards .Something is very wrong when the state holds back new housing vouchers while at the same time increases the flow of resources to subsidize high-rent housing.

MLRI’s 2022 HDIP report  documented some disturbing features of this program: HDIP awards support projects with almost no affordable units; HDIP housing is targeted to small households with disposable income; rents are generally well above market and often shockingly high; credits are not distributed evenly or equitably among Gateway Cities; most HDIP units have only a small number of bedrooms and are not suitable for families with children, and HDIP provides no direct benefits to lower income families in Gateway Cities.

This update to the MLRI report provides troubling new data and continued concerns about this costly program that supports only higher priced housing. Advocates continue to urge legislators and the Healey administration to revise HDIP to support mixed income housing – both market rate and affordable.  HDIP could become  a “housing development incentive program” for ALL Gateway City residents!