Over the last year and a half, I have been honored to serve on the Steering Committee of Housing Lynn, a planning effort convened by the Mayor’s Office and Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development and led by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the regional planning agency.
The Housing Lynn process has led to the creation of the Housing Lynn Plan that is currently before the Lynn City Council and Planning Board. The main goal of the Plan is to address the rising cost of housing in the city of Lynn.
One of the questions that has come up repeatedly in discussions about the Housing Lynn Plan is what is being done to encourage home ownership.
Owning a home is a classic American strategy to build wealth. Homeowners benefit economically from the rising value of their home. Neighborhoods also benefit from investment in and commitment to buildings that are owned by the people who live in them.
However, this strategy to build wealth is not readily available to all. For generations, policies that were put in place at different levels of government to encourage home ownership which excluded people of color. In addition, discrimination in the real estate market is unfortunately still with us today.
Furthermore, rising home prices have made the goal of home ownership more elusive for everyone and even impossible for some. If you drive by a real estate showing some Saturday in Lynn, you’ll probably see people scrambling to make an offer that will be one of dozens over the property’s asking price.
The Housing Lynn Plan addresses rising rents. It also addresses the accessibility of home ownership.
The Plan contemplates at least 5 percent of new housing units being affordable for folks earning 50 percent to 80 percent of area median income, or up to $96,000. It would therefore help some of those aspiring home buyers losing out on houses for sale to cash offers that are submitted way over asking price.
Here are some of the ways the Housing Lynn Plan would encourage home ownership:
First, the Plan’s recommendation that the city pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance would likely apply to certain types of condominium developments, creating ownership opportunities.
Second, the Plan’s recommendation to use public land to create affordable housing would also likely include the creation of deed-restricted affordable homes. These types of properties help people start off in the housing market, participate in some of the upside of their first purchase, and still keep the property affordable for the next buyer.
Third, the Plan’s recommendation to create an affordable housing trust fund would also likely lead to ownership opportunities. An affordable housing trust fund would allow the city to create housing opportunities based on community need. This would give us flexibility to look at ideas like community land trusts and programs that help households buy an existing home in the community that would otherwise have been out of reach for them.
Fourth, the Plan’s recommendation to develop a Fair Housing Plan would include strategies to address discrimination in the real estate market, for both owners and renters.
Finally, the Plan’s recommendation to give tenants a right of first refusal is another way to create ownership opportunities. When a property goes up for sale, a right of first refusal would give tenants a chance to match offers that are submitted by third party buyers.
These recommendations would build on efforts already underway in the city of Lynn to encourage homeownership. For example, Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development runs a popular and successful class for first-time home buyers.
However, based on feedback that the Housing Lynn team received during an extensive public input process, we know we need to do more. Young families who want to start a life in Lynn are being denied that opportunity.
The recommendations in the Housing Lynn Plan include best practices vetted by housing experts, developers and local community members on how to increase access to home ownership.
Jared Nicholson is a candidate for mayor of Lynn. He is currently a member of the Lynn School Committee and a law professor at Northeastern University.
