Boston Council Panel Reviews $50 Million Affordable Homeownership Grant From State

BOSTON — October 18, 2024 — Boston's City Council housing panel scrutinizes a $50 million state homeownership grant amid evidence of overwhelming buyer demand. The Committee on Housing and Community Development, chaired by District 9 Councillor Liz Breadon, held a virtual hearing October 18 on Docket 1165, a mayoral order to accept and expend $50 million from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency's Commonwealth Builder Program — a sum that would bring the city's total authorization under the program to $100 million. Christine O'Keefe, Director of Neighborhood Housing at the Mayor's Office of Housing, told councillors that 299 affordable homeownership units have been funded to date at a subsidy of $150,000 per unit, matched by city funds for a combined maximum of $300,000 per unit, across Dorchester, East Boston, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Roxbury. Councillor Brian Worrell pressed staff on demand, with O'Keefe acknowledging that a single 40-unit project can attract roughly 800 applications. O'Keefe also corrected the written order on the record: the grant amount is $50 million, not $75 million as originally drafted. No vote was taken; the docket was adjourned for future full-council action.