affordable housing

With just over a month left to allocate remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds before the December 31 deadline, the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners approved grant agreements for two projects that will help address the housing crisis on the Cape.

How the Affordable Homes Act will affect Cape Cod was the focus of the annual Housing to Protect Cape Cod summit Thursday in Hyannis.

The Nantucket select board approved the warrant for a special town meeting in September that may decide the fate of short-term rentals on the island.

One effort involves creating pre-approved housing plans that towns and developers can use to speed up the permitting and construction of affordable housing projects. About a dozen different types of housing units will be undertaken, including duplexes and accessory dwelling units.

Gov. Maura Healey supports the fee as a local option to support housing initiatives; it would only be implemented in towns that approve it. But a statewide real estate group say the fee is a tax that increases the cost of housing.

The state housing secretary and his staff visited Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard this week to gather suggestions for the Healey administration’s first five-year housing plan.

Some local police have trouble affording a home on Cape Cod, which makes hiring officers more difficult and can affect emergency response times. We learn more about the problem and what communities are doing in the conclusion to a two-part series.

Gabriella Parker, an Orleans firefighter and paramedic, talks about the difficulty first responders face trying to find housing on the Cape and Islands. And local fire chiefs say the cost of housing makes staffing a challenge. Part 1 of a two-part series.

“We've spent a year … increasing the number of people that have signed our Housing to Protect Cape Cod petition, convening groups, huddles, happy hours, convening and really trying to bring people together around housing,” said Alisa Magnotta, CEO of the nonprofit Housing Assistance Corporation, one of the main organizers.

Governor Maura Healy visited the Housing Assistance Corporation in Hyannis on Thursday to promote her administration's first Capital Investment Plan.