PACIENTES Y MÉTODOS

The inquiry Falmouth hoped to achieve with this study is commendable because the Town has resisted define a town’s housing needs by its shortfall of Chapter 40B units. In fact, the need for decent, affordable housing for a variety of household types exists at several market levels in Falmouth. Even outside of Falmouth, the state’s affordable housing shortage is more complicated than many people realize. The very high rents for market-rate apartments in

Just as town boards would benefit from an

assessment of how their procedures are actually

working, there seems to be a need for public

education about the roles and responsibilities of

town boards and the permitting framework

within which they operate. Sometimes what

appears to be a needless delay is actually the

normal course of a public hearing and decision

process.

density and an expanded housing supply do not on their own guarantee that homes will be affordable even to middle-income renters.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), almost 40 percent of the state’s 2.5 million households have incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) for the regions in which they live, adjusted for household size. Providing Chapter 40B housing equal to 10 percent of all year-round homes in Massachusetts requires a total of about 252,000 units. An update of the Subsidized Housing Inventory in April 2014 shows that 247,000 Chapter 40B units already exist. Even if Massachusetts reached the 10 percent minimum, however, there would still be about 740,000 low- and moderate- income families without a guarantee of affordable housing. In Falmouth, 10 percent means 693 Chapter 40B units in addition to the town’s current 794-unit inventory, yet technical compliance with Chapter 40B would leave almost 2,500 households in homes they cannot afford.

A second challenge in defining housing needs is that sometimes communities lose sight of needs that exist within larger regions or among communities with similar housing markets. Although officials in most cities and towns worry about the social, economic and fiscal impacts that affordable housing developments may bring to their communities, many households can choose to move from one town to another because they have economic mobility. On the Cape, the shortage of reasonably priced housing is a shortage of choices for workers in lower-wage industries, young professionals, divorced non-custodial parents trying to maintain relationships with their children, frail seniors, and others. All of these needs exist in Falmouth, as evidenced by current data as well as plans and studies prepared for the Town in the past, and clearly throughout the Cape, based on work conducted by the Cape Cod Commission.

Just about everyone interviewed for this housing study – thirty-two people knowledgeable about housing conditions in Falmouth – said the town’s most critical need is suitable, low- cost rental housing for young workers. Echoing plans and studies prepared by the Cape Cod Commission, the Town of Falmouth, and others, interviewees described the shortage of affordably priced housing as a key contributor to the out-migration of young people from Cape Cod to other areas in Massachusetts and beyond. The near-absence of decent, affordable housing in Falmouth is not lost on anyone in human services, the town’s major employers, the clergy, or the schools. The Town has commissioned housing needs studies in the past, and all point to similar conclusions.

Even if Massachusetts reached the 10 percent

minimum, however, there would still be about

740,000 low- and moderate-income families

without a guarantee of affordable housing. In

Falmouth, 10 percent means 693 Chapter 40B

units in addition to the town’s current 794-unit

inventory, yet technical compliance with Chapter

40B would leave almost 2,500 households in

homes they cannot afford.

That said, while well-informed residents recognize the Town’s dire need for more housing options for young adults and people in the labor force with modest incomes, there are other needs as well. For example:

 Falmouth has some year-round rentals, but overall, the condition of privately owned

rental stock appears to be fair at best. Falmouth has residents today with very low incomes, high housing cost burdens, and few options but units that have various housing quality problems. The needs of existing residents for safe, decent, affordable housing need to be balanced against the Town’s economic development needs.

 Not all of Falmouth’s seniors are wealthy retirees. Some consideration should be given to

developing deeply affordable rental units for the elderly whose incomes are both fixed and very low.

 Falmouth has existing homeowners with housing quality problems. Evidence of this can

be found in a windshield survey the Town conducted for a recent Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, a detailed review of data from the assessor’s office, and HUD’s Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data. It may be possible to address some of these problems in ways that preserve the affordability of smaller homes in the long run, thereby meeting both existing needs and increasing future housing opportunities for young families.

 Whether in Falmouth or any other community, strategies to address local and regional

housing needs cannot target or unduly benefit one population at the expense of others. State agencies in Massachusetts recently entered into an inter-agency agreement that requires at least 10 percent of all units in comprehensive permit developments to be three- bedroom units. They did so because so many towns have refused to approve housing that would accommodate families with children. While it is clear that regionally unique housing needs exist on the Cape and in other vacation areas across the state, good-quality rental units for low-income families with young children remains the most difficult need to address just about everywhere, both for political and financial reasons. A program similar to Chatham’s CPA-funded rental voucher/self-sufficiency program could help lower-income families in Falmouth while also catalyzing improvements to privately owned rental housing (because the units would have to meet basic housing quality standards).