A constrained supply and high cost of housing have the greatest impact on lower-income households. These households already pay a significant share of income toward housing. Within this universe of cost-burdened households, renters face greater challenges than those who own their homes. In Greater Boston, nearly half of renter households are paying more than 30% of their gross income in rent.
For extremely low-income households, housing costs burdens are so extreme that even a small increase in rent or the loss of hourly wages could lead to an inability to pay rent and set up a spiral into homelessness.
Our vision for the Neighborhoods and Housing strategy is that all residents of Greater Boston will have access to safe, affordable, quality homes in healthy, thriving neighborhoods. Residents will have increased options for renting and owning homes in all communities of Greater Boston. They will have supports to help them find affordable homes, keep their homes, and increase their assets.
We do this with a focus on two strategies described in detail below: Increasing the supply of available housing, and improving housing stability and access.
Neighborhoods and Housing also collaborates with Boston Indicators to produce the annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card. The report uses research and data to highlight housing metrics and proposes impactful policy solutions.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the police brutality and killings of Black people, Neighborhoods and Housing is aligning it’s grantmaking and efforts to address social justice and racial equity in housing. In particular, we will aim to address housing impacts on BIPOC households with programs and policies that disrupt decades of housing discrimination and also create housing-related pathways for economic mobility.