Municipal Affordable Housing Trusts

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Municipal Affordable Housing Trusts
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MAPC >> Resources >> Housing >> Municipal Affordable Housing Trusts

Overview
Resources
MAGIC Convenings

Many cities and towns across Greater Boston have established local Affordable Housing Trusts (AHTs) to manage Community Preservation Act funds and other contributing funding sources to increase the local share of affordable housing.

This page is intended to introduce what an AHT is, provide resources for municipalities relevant to AHTs, and share information on the Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (MAGIC) subregion’s Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Convenings. MAPC is hosting these convenings throughout 2025 and 2026.  

 

Contact:

Gwendolyn Hellen-Sands, AICP, Regional Housing Planner II, [email protected]

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Overview

Benefits of Affordable Housing Trusts (AHT) Icon of a house with a person inside of it.

Affordable Housing Trusts (AHT) are public bodies enabled under state law that can hold money and property independent of the municipality itself, and it can use its holdings for affordable housing purposes. Unlike the larger municipal government, an AHT can act quickly and is better equipped to respond to housing development opportunities that arise outside of the municipalities' normal annual budgeting process.

AHTs are governed by boards that are appointed by local leaders. AHTs are only effective if they are funded. Many communities fund their trusts through the Community Preservation Act (CPA), a local surtax on real estate that must be spent on a variety of community benefits, including Affordable Housing.  

AHTs support affordable housing through:

  • Providing Homebuyers assistance, such as funding down payments or closing costs, and more
  • Interest rate buy-down initiatives (such as City of Boston ONE+ Boston Mortgage Program
  • Rental assistance vouchers 
  • Home preservation, purchasing, and rehabilitation 
  • Predevelopment financing for new construction of affordable rental units 

How They Are Established Icon of a government building.

The Massachusetts State Legislature passed the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund Law (MGL c.44s. 55c) in 2005, which made it easier for both cities and towns to establish a local housing trust. All communities may now create a Municipal Housing Trust either through their city council passing a bill or through a successful vote at a town meeting.  

How Affordable Housing Trusts are Funded Icon of a money symbol in a circle sitting on a square.

Affordable housing trusts have an array of funding sources they may draw from, including:

  • Inclusionary zoning payments
  • Negotiated developer payments
  • HOME Program Federal Funds
  • CPA Funds (CPA funds are the most common form of funding for AHTs in Massachusetts)  
  • Other grant funds

Two-thirds of municipalities across the metropolitan Boston area (Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties) have adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA). Nearly half of the municipalities in the region have created affordable housing trust funds.
(Source: gbhrc19-chapter-1--core-metrics.pdf) 

Relationships with CPA Funds Icon of two speech bubbles, and a money symbol is in one of them.

In many towns, housing initiatives are often spearheaded by the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) and the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). These groups often work together to establish a funding system for the Affordable Housing Trust. The CPC is in charge of making funding recommendations for their CPA funding to either town meeting or city council. The CPC can recommend that a certain amount of funds be given to the AHT each year for the production of affordable housing.  

In 2016 Massachusetts amended the CPA Statute (MGL 44B) to allow the funding of all eligible community housing initiatives. Specifically, this allows CPA funds to be used to acquire, create, preserve or support housing, and to fund rehabilitation or restoration of housing projects that were acquired or created with CPA funds.  

Nineteen municipalities in Massachusetts have passed Transfer Fee home rule petitions, which, if approved by the Massachusetts State House, would allow these communities to enact a Real Estate Transfer Fee. This transfer fee allows municipalities to collect a fee on high-end real estate sales that is deposited to either the municipal affordable housing trust fund or a regional affordable housing commission.

The state is also considering a bill that would enact a local option transfer fee statewide, and create a framework for any municipality to adopt a real estate transfer fee without needing a home rule. If either the municipal transfer fee petitions are passed, or the statewide local option transfer fee is passed (or both!) then real estate transfer fees will become another main way that affordable housing trusts are funded. (Source: Local Option for Housing Affordability) 

Affordable Housing Trust Resources

MAPC Examples

MAPC has worked with many different AHTs over the years, from housing production plans and AHT strategic plans to other pro-housing initiatives.

Examples of such plans include:  

General Resources

Local Option Transfer Fee Resources

MAGIC Subregion Municipal AHT Convenings

Background

It is evident that there is a need for a convening space for AHT board members to come together and learn from one another and housing professionals. There is also significant untapped potential in utilizing AHTs as local housing advocates, to influence policy and programmatic changes beyond the AHTs' control but certainly impacting the efficacy of a local AHT.

The Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (MAGIC) Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) Convenings aim to address these needs through the hosting of five convenings over the course of the year.

The goals of the project include:  

  • Creating a regularly meeting/convening space for AHT board members to learn from one another and improve the effectiveness of local AHTs across Greater Boston
  • Establishing a coalition of AHTs that can advocate for pro-housing policies at the state, regional, and local level, including local option transfer fee and other legislative priorities
  • Evaluating and sharing how the MAGIC subregion has used CPA funds to advance affordable housing goals

MAPC’s hope is to expand this type of convening space and conversations to the entire MAPC region with the opportunity for all Affordable Housing Trusts in the region to join.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, September 18, 2025
9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Lexington, Massachusetts

More details to be announced.

If you are located in the
MAGIC Subregion and would like to attend this convening, please email [email protected] for more information.

Past Meetings and Resources

Access the contact list for the Affordable Housing Trusts (AHTs) and Community Preservation Committees within the MAGIC subregion.