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FY22 Housing Priorities

Boston is making a transformational investment in accessible and affordable housing for all Bostonians.

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The FY22 budget reflects two primary housing goals: continuing to invest in new and existing programming to reach the City’s Housing Boston 2030 targets, and providing new post-COVID-19 support to small businesses and to homeless and at-risk individuals and families.

Housing Boston 2030

Solving the City’s housing crisis is a shared endeavor that requires different types of investments and interventions.

Through the strategies outlined in Housing Boston 2030, the City’s comprehensive housing plan, 98% of the City’s target is completed, under construction, or in the City's development review and permitting pipeline. 20% of new units are set aside for low, moderate, and middle income households.

Progress Toward Housing 2030 Goals

Goal: 69,000 units built by 2030.

Housing Production and Homelessness Support

Boston Home Center family

The FY22 budget contains $25 million in special appropriations dedicated to creating and expanding programs such as down-payment assistance, unit rehabilitation, and housing production. The special appropriations are broken down into the following categories:

  • Housing Vouchers - $5 million
  • Homelessness Initiatives - $5 million
  • Housing Production - $4.4 million
  • Homebuyer Financial Assistance - $3.6 million
  • Housing Rehab - $3.5 million
  • Senior Housing Production - $1.75 million
  • Housing Stability - $1.6 million

Preventing and Ending Homelessness

As the City begins to recover from the pandemic, the budget includes a new investment of $2.5 million for post-COVID-19 homelessness supports. These funds will create new initiatives and expand existing DND programs including:

  • Rapid Rehousing Rental Assistance
  • Rapid Rehousing Unit Holding Fees
  • Barrier Buster Assistance
  • Expanded Peer Housing Navigators 

This investment will result in 235 households moving into permanent housing and 175 households maintaining their rental assistance for an additional year on average, preventing vulnerable individuals from returning to homelessness.

Additionally, with a $2.5 million investment, the City will double existing funding for the City-funded rental voucher program. This program will subsidize the rents of those with the most need through providing hundreds of vouchers over five years.

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Supporting Small Businesses

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To support small businesses that have borne the brunt of the economic downturn and uncertainty, the City is funding a new $1 million investment in commercial development assistance. 

This investment will subsidize ground floor commercial in mixed-use space and provide a significant opportunity to make this space accessible to local businesses and community uses. Funding will be prioritized for projects in neighborhoods that have experienced historic disinvestment and/or are in lower-income census tracts. 

These funds, combined with the continuation of the existing Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) developer fund, creates a bridge to post-COVID-19 recovery and emphasizes the push for reinvestment and equity in the City’s small business community. 

Learn more about the Budget

FY22 Executive Summary
FY22 Operating Budget
FY22 Capital Budget
FY22 Featured Analyses
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