Egremont Tackles the Affordable Housing Crisis

By Patrick White

Egremont has embarked on a multi-pronged strategy to increase its supply of affordable housing. Here's a rundown.

It adopted the state's Community Preservation option at 3%, which makes it eligible for the highest level of state matching funds. It eliminated property taxes on homes or the portions of homes that are offered for rent with long-term affordable leases. It also plans to take a town property and build four units, two for home ownership and two rental units offered as income properties by these new homeowners.

This model is especially intriguing, as it eliminates the property management fee for each of the rental properties. The adjacent homeowner would own the attached rental unit, collect and keep the rents, and be responsible for property management. Seems like a great micro-housing model to me. It also seems like a model the state's regulators should get behind. Quickly.

Taken together, Egremont is using CPC to kickstart funding for affordable housing, and then augmenting these public funds with market incentives designed to empower private-sector individuals to help the town solve its affordability crisis. What's great about this strategy: the town is focused both on what it takes to build the housing and a creative model to manage the properties once built and occupied.

Nice work.