Housing Affordability Initiative (HAI)
Research Highlights
The HAI Affordable Housing Index
The Housing Affordability Index is a multipurpose, multi-faceted tool that is designed to be used by banks and other lenders, affordable housing developers, employers, and economic development agencies. At its core, the index measures a community’s affordable housing stock relative to other communities in an area for a specified segment of the population.
Boston Area Housing Approaches An Acre Per Home: Land Use Research Findings
January 31, 2006
New single-family home construction in the greater Boston metropolitan area is consuming about twice as much land as existing single-family housing, and half of the region’s 30,387 recent new single-family homes were built on lots of nearly an acre or larger, according to a new study by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and the MIT Center for Real Estate (MIT/CRE).
- Land Use Research Findings
- Press Release: "Boston Area Housing Approaches An Acre Per Home: Analysis shows widespread rise in land used for new housing,”
40B Report: Effects of Mixed-Income, Multi-Family Rental Housing Developments on Single-Family Housing Values
April 27, 2005
Chapter 40B is a Massachusetts statute that states: If less than ten percent of a municipality’s housing stock is defined as affordable, then developers with comprehensive permits can build developments that override local zoning regulations. The ability to circumvent zoning regulations has given rise to fears that the values of homes surrounding these mixed-income, multi-family developments will decline, and to resident opposition to 40B developments. The Housing Affordability Initiative (HAI) investigated whether these fears are actually justified by the facts, issued a 40B report, and held an event to present and discuss their findings.
