New Bedford 2020 - VHB.com

A City Master Plan New Bedford 2020The OHCD has established a program for foreclosure prevention and redevelopment, which is coordinatedwith local banks, legal assistance agencies, non-profit housing counseling agencies, and MassHousing to assisthomeowners facing foreclosure on their residences. Additionally, OHCD is working with the U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development and the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and CommunityDevelopment (DHCD) to implement the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The City has applied forfunding, which will target the Acushnet Heights, North End, and Cove Street neighborhoods. These fundswould be utilized to:> Acquire and rehabilitate residential properties that will be offered to first time homebuyers through alottery process;> Acquire and rehabilitate abandoned/foreclosed properties for rental housing to assist low and very lowincome residents;> Acquire and rehabilitate abandoned/foreclosed properties to create affordable rental housing for formerlyhomeless individuals and families; and> Create a pilot program to develop a community land trust.Other existing programs available through all levels ofgovernment that rely on public/private partnerships with localbanks, which are designed to provide counseling and loans toprevent the foreclosure of residences, include: the Fall River/New Bedford Housing Awareness Partnership; MassHousing“HomeSaver Foreclosure Prevention Program”; and theMortgage Relief Fund.Housing NeedsRestoring and improving the local housing stock cansimultaneously preserve our history and architecture, protectneighborhoods, reduce high energy costs, and create jobs.Previous housing studies, including the 2010–2014Consolidated Housing Plan 1 , identified priority housing issuesfaced by low-to-moderate income citizens and the homeless; andthe condition of the city’s housing stock.The New Bedford Housing Authority (NBHA) controls a total of4,348 units of housing that includes units of various sizesthroughout the city, and dwellings constructed over 60 yearsago. The NBHA also has 1,075 units of Section 8 leased,tenant-based assisted housing. Still, the demand for housing forfamilies at the lowest income levels remains a critical issue witha waiting list of 598 families seeking placement and 871 familieson the Section 8 waiting list.Defining Income LimitsThe following are the definitions for thecommonly used income levels when discussingissues around affordable housing.Very Low-IncomeEarning 60% or less of Area Median Income,or AMILow-IncomeEarning 80% or less of AMIModerate-IncomeEarning between 81% and 120% of AMICredit: Anne LouroAccording to the Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) maintained by the DHCD, 12.5% of the city’s housingstock is considered to be affordable to low- and moderate-income households within the parameters of M.G.L.Chapter 40B. 2 This means that the selling price for residences or the monthly rent for an apartment is1 http://www.mass.gov/Ehed/docs/dhcd/cd/planpolicy/consolidated/2010conplan.pdf2 SHI as of September 2010.Neighborhoods and Housing6-5