City tallies its ‘affordable’ housing

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today released a report that details each of the 54,247 income-restricted housing units across the city.

The inventory, named Income-Restricted Housing in Boston, which was released by the Department of Neighborhood Development, is the city’s first-ever report of its kind and provides analysis of the units restricted to households earning less than 50 percent of Area Median Income, which is $43,150 for a twoperson household. The report states that the city has the highest percentage of income-restricted housing of any other major city in the United States.

“Creating more affordable housing and preserving Boston’s more than 54,000 income-restricted units are top priorities for my administration,” said Walsh, who in September increased the city’s housing goal to include 53,000 to 69,000 new units by 2030. “This report helps us understand how many income-restricted units there are, where they are, and to whom they are affordable, all important information as we work to increase affordable housing opportunities in our neighborhoods.”

According to the report, the South End and Lower Roxbury are neighborhoods with the highest percentage of income-restricted housing stock at 48 percent. Roxbury has 45 percent, while Charlestown and Jamaica Plain each have 25 percent.

To complete the report, the DND collected data on all of the units identified as income-restricted in order to monitor how much affordability exists in the city. The city soon plans to announce awardees of an affordable housing funding round announced in September.

Included in the inventory is data from Boston Housing Authority public housing, privately-owned housing built with DND funding and/or on city-owned land, and privately-owned housing built without any city subsidy.