Playing catch-up on housing: Affordable projects in pipeline around Valley as gap keeps growing
By ALEXA LEWISÂ
Staff Writer
Published: 07-12-2024 4:59 PM
Thousands of new affordable housing units will be built in western Massachusetts in the next few years, but local housing advocates say this still will not be enough to meet the massive regional demand for housing relief.
The lack of affordable housing is a growing problem nationwide, and the impact has been particularly acute in Massachusetts. The western part of the state, though more rural and less densely populated than the greater Boston area, has not been immune to the sting of a highly limited housing stock.
A count of homeless populations conducted this year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that the number of homeless families in Hampshire County has doubled over last year, with a lack of affordable housing as a prominent driving factor.
A 2022 study conducted by Way Finders and the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts found that there was an 11,000-unit shortage of housing in the Pioneer Valley in 2018, which is expected to grow to a 19,000-unit shortage by 2025.
Home City Development is developing Amethyst Brook Apartments in Pelham, an apartment complex of 34 affordable rental units.