Bill > H3677

This bill authorizes the town of Wareham's Board of Appeals to count certain manufactured housing units as low or moderate-income housing when determining if the town meets a threshold of at least 10 percent of its housing units being affordable, which can allow the board to approve projects that are consistent with local needs. Specifically, manufactured housing units in manufactured housing communities can be included if each unit is worth no more than $100,000 and has no outstanding health code violations, and if the combined costs of rent, financing a new unit, and utilities are affordable to a single person earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (the average income for a region), with that person spending no more than 30 percent of their income on these housing costs. Additionally, the median income of the census tract where the manufactured housing community is located must be less than 80 percent of the area median income. The area median income is a figure determined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is used to define affordability levels for housing programs.