40B

Massachusetts General Law (MGL) 40B, often referred to as Chapter 40B, is a program created in 1969 to allow developers to override local zoning and other by-laws in order to increase the stock of affordable housing in municipalities where less than 10% of the housing stock is defined as affordable.

Chapter 40B allows and encourages urbanization of land that may otherwise, under local zoning bylaws, not be buildable.

MA Housing is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MA Housing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) is determined by the U.S. Census (most recently in 2010). The Subsidized Housing Inventory is used to measure a community's stock of low-or moderate-income housing for the purposes of MGL 40B. While housing developed under Chapter 40B is eligible for inclusion on the inventory, many other types of housing also qualify to count toward a community's affordable housing stock, including “workforce housing” such as Ticcoma Green, and the apartments at Richmond Development. Inexplicably, covenant homes do not count toward SHI.

Safe Harbor is term used when a town is in compliance with its Housing

Production Plan (HPP) meeting the number of SHI units determined by the census counts, allowing the town “protection” from 40B developments both hostile (Surfside Crossing) and friendly (Sachems Path). Safe harbor gives the local ZBA the ability to deny new 40B projects. Depending on the number of units placed on the SHI list, a town may be in Safe Harbor for one to two years.  The Housing Production Plan must include numerical goal for annual housing production, including increase in municipality’s SHI eligible housing units by at least 0.50% of total units every calendar year for a 5-year period.

•     Safe harbor based on compliance with approved Housing Production Plan goals.

•     Increasing SHI-eligible units by > 0.50% total units = 1 year safe harbor

•     Increasing SHI-eligible units by > 1.0% total units = 2 year safe harbor