(Westfield – 7/1/2024) During the Senate’s Affordable Homes Act debate last week, an amendment offered by Senator John C. Velis was adopted to ensure that housing development projects throughout Western Massachusetts will be eligible for the Homeownership Tax Credit program, a critical new initiative in the bill designed to produce homes affordable to first-time homebuyers. This amendment will enable small and rural communities in Western Massachusetts, who commonly consider smaller sized developments, to receive state support to expand homeownership opportunities within their community.
Through Senator Velis’s amendment, the Homeownership Tax Credit program will be able to consider small developments with less than 10 units if approved by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The flexibility provided by this amendment will maximize eligibility for the program especially among smaller developments commonly utilized in small and rural communities across Western Massachusetts. The Senate’s legislation also ensures these smaller projects are eligible for the Commonwealth Builder Program, which supports construction of affordable homeownership opportunities in Gateway Cities.
“To meaningfully tackle the Commonwealth’s housing crisis, it requires solutions that considers every part of our state- including our small and rural communities here in Western Massachusetts. I am grateful to my colleagues for adopting my amendment to make these smaller developments eligible for this critical funding program and to ensure that our smaller communities have the same opportunities to create homeownership opportunities,” shared Senator John C. Velis, who is the sole Western Massachusetts Senator on the Joint Committee on Housing. “Iam particularly grateful to my friend and Chair of the Housing Committee, Senator Edwards, for her diligent work to craft legislation that considers the unique housing challenges of every corner of our Commonwealth- including right here in Western Massachusetts.”
Last fall, Senator Velis held a roundtable in Holyoke alongside Chair Lydia Edwards that brought together housing experts and advocates from his district and throughout Western Massachusetts. This roundtable was a critical opportunity that led to many priority housing initiatives specific to Western Massachusetts being included in the Senate’s Housing Bond Bill passed unanimously last Thursday.
Separate versions having passed the Senate and the House of Representatives, the two branches will now reconcile the differences.
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