Housing Trust

Overview

Belmont's new Housing Production Plan provides a blueprint for achieving 10% or greater housing affordability by pursuing these goals:

• Diverse Housing. Create additional affordable housing opportunities for seniors, families, Belmont's local workforce, and persons with disabilities.
• Affordable Housing. Preserve, expand, and create deed-restricted Affordable Housing for low- income households.
• Equitable and Accessible Housing. Support and invest in programs and policies that address racial disparities in rental and homeownership access and affordability.
• Sustainable Housing. Promote net zero housing construction and carbon neutrality.
• 15-minute Neighborhoods. Promote the development of walkable and bike-able 15-minute neighborhoods.

The plan also sets out various strategies - educational, funding, planning, preservation, zoning, and production - to reach these goals. Among the strategies are these:

• Preservation: Redevelop Belmont Housing Authority (BHA) properties to preserve the public housing and expand affordable housing opportunities and address lack of accessibility.
• Zoning: Allow accessory dwelling units and 2- and 3-family homes by right in the general residence (GR) and single-residence (SR) zoning districts.
• Zoning: Meet or exceed the goals and requirements of the MBTA Communities Act.
• Production: Encourage redevelopment of property owned by religious institutions for Affordable Housing
• Production: Pursue development opportunities on large, vacant lots
• Funding: Aim to spend more than the 10% annual minimum of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding on community housing.

The Housing Trust turns 25 in 2024! Here's some of what has been achieved in that time:

• Produced 40 affordable rental apartments, three permanently affordable homeownership units, and a Habitat house;
• Led efforts to establish inclusionary housing requirements and to increase them substantially;
• Created and funded an Emergency Rental Assistance Plan during the pandemic to help Belmont's renters and landlords;
• Negotiated a plan and zoning for the next McLean development responsive to residents' needs;
• Developed two 5-year housing production plans (2018-2023, 2023-2028) to continue planned progress in meeting housing needs;
• Helped raise the official percentage of affordable housing (PDF) in Town from 3.3% to 6.2% now, and 7.3% once the McLean development is built; and
• Made educational presentations to numerous audiences in Belmont and to multiple Town Meetings over time.