Letter to the Editor: Affordable Housing Trust Exists

North Andover’s Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) is working to help North Andover meet its affordable housing needs.  With over $1M at its disposal, it is in a position to have a significant impact on affordable housing within the Town.

The money the Trust controls is NOT part of the general revenue fund used to pay for Town services like schools, police and fire.  It is revenue that has been paid to the town specifically for affordable housing purposes.  The two main sources of these types of funds are:

• Builder Development Fees – In permitting some projects in North Andover, the Planning Board has required the builder to subsidize affordable housing development.  The most significant example of this is Edgewood Retirement Community which, when it recently added 20 cottages to the existing development, paid over $850,000, the money to be used for affordable housing.
• Market Rate Re-sales of 40B Units – When the owner of an affordable unit built under Chapter 40B sells his/her unit, and an income eligible buyer can’t be found within a certain period of time, the seller has the right to sell the unit to anyone (i.e. at market price).  If the unit is sold at a higher price than the affordable price, the difference between the two prices goes to North Andover.  Selling a unit at market rate does not benefit the seller financially; the seller receives only the affordable price, no matter what price the unit actually sells for.  But if the unit sells at the market rate, the unit is lost to the Town as an affordable unit.  To compensate for this loss, the excess of the price over the affordable price goes to the North Andover AHT.  Over $250,000 has come to the Trust from40B re-sales.

The primary program of the Trust to date has been to provide financial support to sellers to ensure that income eligible buyers can be located in a timely manner.  Because the money paid to the seller is fixed regardless of the eventual sales price, there is little incentive for the seller to hire an agent and have the unit listed on MLS.  The Trust has decided to help defray agent commissions provided the unit is listed on MLS and the unit remains affordable after the sale.  To date, about $27,000 has been expended on this program. 

Trust funds have also been used to pay building fees for the North Andover Housing Authority and administrative fees to the organization that administered a Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Program.

George Koehler, Chair

North Andover Affordable Housing Trust