Housing Initiatives

How Harvard Can Diversify the Housing Inventory

*** IMPORTANT NEWS ***
Updated November 7, 2022

Updated MBTA Housing Initiatives Guidelines HERE.

MBTA Communities Multifamily Guidelines page is located HERE. This page will include information on the Guidelines and how Harvard is responding to it and preparing an approach based on the final set of Guidelines that are due out later this year (2022).

Emergency Rental/Mortgage Assistance - Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERMA) applications and instructions available HERE and on Home Page. The Town of Harvard through the Town's Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) has created a program to assist local renters and homeowners who may have been severly financiall impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. If you or someone you know is having trouple paying rent or meeting your mortgage obligations, please download the application and instructions at the link above. If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact Director of Community and Economic Development Christopher Ryan at 978-456-4100 x.323 or cryan@harvard-ma.gov or Debbie Thompson, Harvard Council on Aging (COA) Director at 978-456-4120 or dthompson@harvard-ma.gov anytime.

Introduction: As of 2020, 90.4% of Harvard's residential parcels were single-family housing. The average valuation of these parcels is $632,868.84 and the homes built since 2000 average 4.2 acres per site, significantly larger than the 1.5 acre minimum required translating to 568 acres converted from open space to private lands (Source: 2017 Harvard Housing Production Plan). These more recent homes average 3,560 square feet or 73% larger than homes built from 1950 to 1974 and 52% of Harvard homes overall have four or more bedrooms. This high end exclusivity does not offer residential opportunities for individuals and families of more modest means. The 2017 Housing Production Plan notes that a more than nominal number of existing Harvard households are cost burdened and clearly the average priced home is beyond the means of many people including first-time homebuyers, recent graduates, the workforce sector, many public servants, older residents, and others. Both the 2016 Master Plan and the 2017 Housing Production Plan have established goals to diversify the Harvard housing stock and population yet as of 2021, these goals have not gotten any traction. Some affordable units have been built through the MGL 40B program such as Bowers Brook and Trail Ridge, but the current Subsidized Housing Inventory, required to be 10% to forestall forced 40B projects, stands at just 5.8% as of 2020.

Current Housing-Related Initiatives

Open Space Residential Development - An effort to significantly revise the existing OSC-PRC bylaw creating a new Open Space Residential Development (OSRD) bylaw which should be a marked improvement to the existing bylaw. In short, this mechanism allows for residential development projects that require a minimum of 50% of open space to be set aside and permanently protected. It would allow a wider range of housing types beyond single-family large lot projects. See the Planning Board project page HERE.

Senior Housing - The Planning Board initiated a three-phase effort to pass bylaw amendments to enhance opportunities for senior housing development. You can see our progress on THIS page.

Affordable Housing Primer: For more information on the affordable housing situation in Harvard, please follow this LINK. Also see the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust page.